Leadership Detectives
Leadership Detectives
Creating a Compelling Vision
Welcome to Episode 3 of The Leadership Detectives.
In this episode, we discuss the importance of creating a compelling vision. It frequently acts as an effective platform for moving forward in multiple areas of life.
There needs to be a direction for everyone to be able to easily identify with, and the key question is this: would you set off for a journey without knowing what direction you're going in?
We look at examples from successful companies and how they've managed to distill their vision into something digestible. We also talk about various ways one can create and adapt their vision, from conception to execution.
Find Neil online at: https://neilthubron.com
And Albert on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/albert-e-joseph
Welcome to the Leadership Detectives with Albert Joseph and Neil Fulbrum. This is the go-to podcast for uncovering clues about great leadership. If you are a leader today or an aspiring leader, this podcast is a must for you. And welcome to another episode of the Leadership Detectives with Albert and Neil. Uncovering the clues of great leadership in this epic adventure we're on together. How are you doing today, Albert? I'm good, I'm good. It's actually quite exciting, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01:Being in season two. It's quite a nice feeling that we've got a bit of refreshment through it. And, you know, as we said before, we're doing some work with some people helping professionalize this a lot more. And it feels really good. So yeah, really good to be here.
SPEAKER_00:It's interesting, actually. So in in TV series, if you get to season two, that's normally a vindication that you're doing something right. Because a lot of things get stopped after season one and they're not re-signed. Now, given that we're, you know, signing ourselves to this, it kind of makes it easy for us to do that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I guess the difference is on a TV, someone's deciding that people are watching, and so it's good to go to season two.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:We've decided we're going to season two, but we know people are watching and we're getting some great feedback and comments. So, hey, that's great. So, what do we do last? We talked about what is a leader, right? Which is just to put a baseline down, guys, because that's really important. But the thing we want to talk about today is about creating a compelling vision. And everyone that we've spoken to of our guests throughout the period up until now, and everything that we do and have been and seen tells us you've got to have a vision as your platform by which to go forward. So, Neil, you do this really well, actually. And I'll, you know, it'd be great for us to get some experience from you on that. But what's your thoughts on that before we launch into the content?
SPEAKER_00:I also just want to put a frame on how we're going to structure today. What I think we should cover is why is this important? You know, what are good examples of this to try and help people get their head around what we're talking about, how you can create a compelling vision and who should be involved in it. I think that's kind of if we make sure we cover that as we're talking through this. But vision's an interesting, you know, it's it gets debated a lot around, you know, vision and mission. There's a lot of confusion around that. The most important thing we've heard, the most important thing I I work with when I'm working with leadership teams, is just making sure that there is a compelling direction that people are going in, that's exciting, that everybody buys into, that isn't touchable, you know, it needs to be out in the future, that is somewhere you want to take people. That's what I think a vision is and why it's important. Because if you don't know where you're going, if you haven't got that destination, then how do you know what actions to take now? How do you know what plans to build? How to structure your teams, etc. So I think that's why creating a compelling vision is so important.
SPEAKER_01:Let's just make let's just make it a bit simple for people, guys, right? Would you set off on a journey not knowing where you're going? Would you set off on a journey? What would you do? You'd get in the car or you'd go to the public transport, and what would you do? You'd just travel, right? Jump on any train. So at its simplest form, guys, unless you know where you want to go, all the journey could be wasted or it would be frustrating because you don't know if you're making progress. So just keep that simple thought in mind.
SPEAKER_00:The great story or quote on that is from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, where Alice arrives at a junction in the road and the Cheshire cat's in the tree. And Alice says to the Cheshire cat, which road should I take? And he says, Well, where are you going? And she says, I don't know. So he says, Well, any road will do.
SPEAKER_01:It doesn't matter then. That's right. Absolutely right. Absolutely right. So that look, amongst the wise guys, that's one of the key things. You've got to know where you're trying to end up when you start the journey.
SPEAKER_00:And you know, Stephen Covey, we've talked about the seven habits of highly effective people, which is you know one of the Bibles for leaders. And setting a vision is one of the key things a leader has to do for their team, for their business, for their sports team, whatever it is. And in Habit Two, Covey talks about begin with the end in mind. If you begin and then see where you're going, you could be taking the wrong actions, doing the wrong things, as we just said. But begin with the end in mind and have this vision of where you're going and make it compelling. And this is what great leaders do. Great leaders make their vision compelling. So that when people come into work, they know what they are contributing to, what energy they're putting in is and what that's doing for their business, for their customers, and for society. And that's a really good point as well, right?
SPEAKER_01:It's got to be compelling for your teams and for your business. The fact that you might be excited about it and you might love the words or the diagram or anything that you've put to articulate your vision, if it's not exciting for everybody else, they're not coming on the journey with you. So that's really important. So having a great vision and making sure you articulate it and can get people on board with it.
SPEAKER_00:And I think if you look at a couple of examples of great, it kind of paints the picture. So Microsoft back in the late 80s, early 90s, their vision when they were founded was a computer on every desk in every home. So when you come in and work to work for Microsoft, you know what you're working towards. You know why you're turning up because you're trying to get a computer on every desk in every home. Tesla and and Elon Musk's vision is all about I haven't got the exact wording here, but it's all about saving the planet. It's all about uh creating a sustainable planet where we can all live. And then his SpaceX is all about creating an alternative to Earth in case there's a you know there's an event on it. So when people come to work, they know they are contributing to that vision.
SPEAKER_01:Well, what about for you, Neil? What about when you were in a corporate role? And then we'll come to today. But when you're in a corporate role, do you have examples of where you had a vision that you articulated and got people on board to?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, is the answer. So I I can think of yeah, many examples. So when I was running a UK sales organization, you know, when you and I were working together, you know, I just had this absolute vision that I used to articulate to people all the time that we're going to be the best sales team in the UK. And the way we were going to measure that we were the best sales team in the UK was how many people went to club.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And and, you know, so because if you went to club, that means you'd overachieved your number. And the more people that overachieve their number, the more people go to club. Therefore, we must be the most successful team, sales team in the UK. And that vision seemed to energize people because they knew we're coming into work. Yeah, we're going to benefit from this individually, but we're going to be the best sales team in the UK.
SPEAKER_01:I remember one of the um visuals you used to use for that. I remember you had a visual of a plane and you were filling up the seats on the plane, right? Now that's powerful for people to see that plane filling up and to know whether you've got a boarding ticket, boarding card or not.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So, so important because it makes it real, it makes it exciting, and it gets people engaged, right?
SPEAKER_00:And likewise, I mean, so what about you? What would be a good example for you of uh this?
SPEAKER_01:I I remember we had a really simple one that I don't think I even I don't think I even started it. I think the team started it because I remember saying to the team, these are the things we're being driven to, we've got this place we've got to get to, and I don't know how we're gonna get there. And it was, and it doesn't matter, I can talk about it now because it doesn't matter what the business was, but we had a gross profit of a certain number, and the number we were told we had to hit, let's do the number, it's 50%. And we weren't at 50%, we were at 43 or something. So this vision of getting to 50%, I remember first tournament, people were going, we're never gonna get there. That's a crazy goal. Why would you even think about getting to a place like that? And they started it, right? And it actually came on board, and everybody got on board with this get to the 50%. You know, we made we made video skits about it, and and lots of stuff went on, right? But everybody got on board because whether you were generating revenue, whether you were leasing deals, whether you were spending money on parts and engineers, you could all get your mind around 50% is the base. Are we getting there? And and it was just so exciting, right?
SPEAKER_00:And that's a really good example, is it gives you a point to focus your attention on. And so if everybody's actions are aligned behind that point, the vision might be wrong, you might be moving everything wrong, but at least you're moving in a direction that focuses you there. It's interesting actually, because I was just uh thinking about I when I was in the the military, when we went to sat through when I went through Sandhurst, you go through a set of orders, and you know, you start off with your, you know, the you talk about the mission. But one of the things they added in the 90s, so you it used to be you shared with your troops the mission, what you're trying to achieve. But one of the things they added to the orders in the 90s was the commander's intent. So it wasn't just about the mission for your organization, it was about what is the commander's intention. And the reason that was important is because specific actions you take might contribute to that intent. So you could make decisions on the ground so long as it was aligned with that intention. And I think that's why a vision is so important, is it enables people to know that what they're doing is is aligned behind that intention, that direction.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, that's really good. And I think you've stepped into the what there as well, right? So we can probably continue on that because I think hopefully, guys, you've got the the idea of why you need one, but the what is really important. And I think what you just described there is you don't have to adopt, per se, the vision that is above you. You don't have to take the vision that your leader has got and tell your team that is our vision as well. You need to personalize it, you need to make it real for the people that it applies to. So, what is your vision for your team within the business, company, or organization that you are within, right? Don't adopt somebody else's vision for a start unless you believe it. If you really believe it, that's great. And if it fits your team, that's great. But chances are it doesn't, right? So you need to personalize it.
SPEAKER_00:That also overlaps with the who as well here, because vision isn't just about the CEO, the founder of the business setting this vision. Those are really powerful and they're important. But if your boss hasn't set a vision, that doesn't mean you can't set a vision for your team. It doesn't mean, you know, and and it could be you know, you're managing uh an engineering team, and your vision for that engineering team is you're gonna have the most satisfied customers in the country that you're gonna have the highest employee satisfaction in the country, or whatever the vision might be, excited customers, energized employees, or something like that, and you get everybody behind that vision, or if you're an admin team, it could be you know, you're gonna energize delighted customers, or you're gonna have the most efficient processes, or what so it doesn't matter what you do, it fits as a leader.
SPEAKER_01:You have to set that vision, and it needs to be completely achievable and believable within your current belief.
SPEAKER_00:So, no, then we get into this debate about vision, mission, goals. So, yeah, let me let me pause for a minute and you you just take over for a sec, right? And share your view on vision, mission, goals.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, I think at the highest level, right, the very highest level, I would say vision is about the future, where you're trying to get to, what's in the distance, and something you've got to reach for. Is it achievable? It doesn't appear so at the moment, but that makes it all the more challenging, right? Mission, if I had to get down to that level, I think mission is about describing what you do and how you do it. Okay, right, yeah, with a view to reaching that vision. Visions about the future, missions about now. Goals I would see as being more immediate and more personal and breaking it down into chunks, right? Yeah. So you if I hit certain things, it contributes to this mission and it puts me on the road or the journey to where I'm trying to get to. So that I guess if that was my you know, in a lift, give me your quick view, that's it.
SPEAKER_00:So, so and then and when then when you're setting goals, that's when smart comes into play, you know, about specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and correct um time bound. So um, but you know, I was looking at some missions earlier, and it's worth looking at a few because I think are these missions, are these missions? And actually, when I'm running workshops, I kind of say people look, don't get hung on whether it's a vision or a mission. It, you know, you all the MBA people in the room are just bury your heads because it's not going to help move you forward if distinction on whether it's a vision or a mission. Yeah, exactly. So I've got a great one here. So IKEA have a mission statement, which is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Now it doesn't say anything about building furniture or having you know accessibility to flat pack furniture, it's about creating a better life for the people that are buying from them, basically. What does that sound like to you? Does that sound like a vision? Does it sound like a mission?
SPEAKER_01:I I don't know. I could put a distinction on it. No, I mean you could say that's a vision as well, right? But it sounds more like a mission. It sounds more like a mission because I think it sounds more achievable and more here and now.
SPEAKER_00:And how are you going to feel coming to work, knowing that you're making life better for your customers?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and that's exactly it, right? That's exactly it, is that you're getting into people's hearts and minds here, and you're not making anything up, by the way. This is what you do, right? You're not creating some story for them, you're just making their contribution more relevant, and and it feels like it's making a difference.
SPEAKER_00:I just had a thought there about people sitting on this, listening to this podcast, and they're kind of going, yeah, okay, yeah, but we don't need to do that. We're busy, we've got lots of stuff to do, you know, and we ain't got time for all this fluffy stuff like setting visions and you know, that's all that's kind of all good MBA speak, that's all good management consultancy stuff. How would you feel working for someone who hasn't got a clue where they're going, other than the metrics in the business? You know, so yeah, we're trying to grow by 1% our e-bit dollar this year. You know, if your vision is turn up to work because we're trying to grow the e-bit dollar by 1%, which means that the shareholders or the uh the bit uh the business are getting more wealthy, how do you feel about that as an employee if that's what the vision is of your boss or your team? What do you think?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'll tell you what's interesting is that as human beings, we all love something to look forward to. Who is not stressed and frustrated with what's been going on with lockdown and all that because they couldn't see the next horizon and the next thing to look forward to? So we need and we love something to look forward to. Yeah, but what are you looking forward to if your mission is come to work, work for 37 hours and go home? Yeah, if that's your mission, what are you looking for? And how do you know you're making progress? And how do you know you're moving forward? I mean, we all like to move forward and make progress and improve, don't we?
SPEAKER_00:Correct, yeah. And we want it, and we want to know we're on a journey. We, you know, psychologically, we want to know we're on a journey and we want to know we mean something, which is why this vision is so important. And it's every single leader, whether you've got one person reporting to you or whether you've got thousands reporting to you, you need to set that intention, that vision, and make it exciting and compelling, and belief and belief, you believe it. You want you believe you can get there. Does Elon Musk believe he can get to Mars and colonize Mars? Yes, he does, and there is no question in anyone's mind that he believes that.
SPEAKER_01:But you know, part of this process is that you have a vision, call it vision, mission, call it what you want. You have that, and then you set actions around it to get to where you want to get to. That's the how, right? That's part of executing the how. How do you set your actions around it if you don't have the vision? Well, you're just doing stuff, you know, you're just doing stuff to do. By the way, somebody might be benefiting from your work, but is it supporting you, your team, and your mentality of your team?
SPEAKER_00:So I'm just going to give two more examples of missions and then let's move on to how you create one. So I because I like these. So jet blue, which is an airline in the US, is to inspire humanity both in the air and on the ground. Yeah, it's brilliant, inspiring humanity. And I've just found Tesla's one here, which is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. So there's no question when you come into work, what are you doing? You're accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and it doesn't matter what level in your organization you're we've said it already. So let's talk about how. Okay. And this is the stuff you're good at, and Bertie, is you're great at doing this, is pulling together and getting people behind a vision. So, how would you do recommend to leaders that are listening to this to pull together a vision?
SPEAKER_01:I would start with the fact that you as a leader need to know what the organization is engaged you personally for. Why are you here? What is it you're expected to do? Now you need to translate that business objective that you've been given into something that says, well, what does the what is the vision look like that says I'm getting there or I've reached certain milestones? You have to create that picture. So let's take the one I said earlier about I was missioned with driving a business, delivering the revenue, the profit, and all that good stuff. No one said to me, your vision is 50%. They just said, get the job done and make sure you grow and and so we came up with this thing. But it's not about me because I can think about that. And then what you've got to do is make sure there's people around you that actually buy into that. So I might have started by saying, you know, our mission is 47.9, 47.6%, right? The guys might have said, Well, let's sit down, guys, let's see how we're going to turn it. They might have gone, that doesn't sound very sexy, and it doesn't sound very let's let's do this. I mean, you know, that sounds really simple, guys. But what I'm saying is have other people contribute, rip it apart, put it back together, and don't get attached to it, right? Don't feel that your vision is the one and everyone has to buy in. Other people might tweak that and make it even better than it was before. Not might, they will. They will. If you've got the right team together, they will make your thought even better than it was. Because they're also, your leaders are also the connection to your people. And they help translate how will this mean something to our people? So that's where I would come from, Neil. I'd be saying, and don't get hung up on the wordsmithing as well, guys, right? Don't worry about the perfect English and does that sound right from the Oxford dictionary? Don't worry about that stuff, right? Get people on board.
SPEAKER_00:I think, and what I've learned by running uh, you know, lots of workshops where I always start with the leader's vision because you know, without that, I can't run a workshop for lead leaders on how they're going to execute if there isn't a vision. But normally what I do is work with the leader first so that they because the leader has to have a passion and a vision for where they're going and know how that fits into the organization. And then, as you say, get the team engaged in it to get their input, get their buy-in. And there's a couple of other things I'd I'd add as well that work really well. Is firstly, you cannot do a vision building exercise in a normal management meeting or in a normal team meeting. If you've just been sitting down reviewing customer complaints and your sales forecast for the quarter or for the month, and you're looking at, you know, put people issues, you're in the you're in the weeds, you're in the today stuff. It's operational. That's operational. Correct. So you've got to get out and then add vision on the end of that meeting. That doesn't work. It's got to be specific. You know, this meeting is about the future. This meeting about is about where we're going. And and I think, and and you the best place to do that is somewhere in an environment where you don't normally meet. Go off site, go somewhere that's going to be nurturing to the brain and inspiring. Did you agree?
SPEAKER_01:But the other thing is on this, and maybe this is a good time to talk about it as well. This is just about corporate stuff, right? You just have a vision for your job, right? It's about your job, your contribution to the corporation. That's what vision's about, right? That's where you use it.
SPEAKER_00:Of course, yeah. No, because you don't need to know where you're going in your your own personal life or or have your family vision. You know, none of that, because really all everything we do every day is all about work. So you can set the choices about where you want to end up in your life. That's scary that you could do that. And Stephen Covey talks about it in his books in Habit 2. He says, you know, you should have a family mission statement. You should have a direction that you're and work on it with your family over several weeks, sit over dinner and talk about what is our mission statement. You know, and I know why you're asking the question. You know, I have a personal vision. It's up there. Could you get it down? Can you I got it down before the meeting? Uh and I'll I'll read it out because I'm, you know, this you should be proud of your vision. My vision, I call it my ultimate vision, but my vision is I want to use all my skills, experience, attributes to help and develop other people. I want my life to be an example of what is possible to inspire others, physically, emotionally, business, financial health, well-being, and what people can do at any age. I want to live life to the full and experience as many things as I can, see as many places as I can, and meet many fantastic people. And that's up on my wall here. It's also in a book by the side of my bed, which I read in the evening. I always reminded my vision, and that's something vision shouldn't be something you do once and put away, it should be something you read regularly. It's in front of you. You're constantly going back to that. That it's like earthing, you're earthing yourself down to uh to connect. Have you ever done that kind of exercise?
SPEAKER_01:No, I haven't. And you know, what you've got there is streets ahead of anything I've got in my own personal life, right? And that's fantastic. And it just shows guys, and by the way, Neil didn't do this one Saturday morning in a one-hour session, right? This is something, just as Neil says, you go over and over. And it's the same when you build a vision, you can't tweak it forever. But when you start it, revisit it a couple of times before you decide this is what we're going with. And by the way, if in six months something changes, you can adjust that. Just don't do it too many times. Otherwise, you'll people if you keep moving your destination, your team are going, which way am I going? Right. But but there's no reason you couldn't tweak it to be with the business. So don't let your vision become stale, because your vision isn't something you're going to reach in six months, possibly. It's normally a longer-term view than that. But no, I don't have anything like that, Neil. And you know, credit to you for what you've got there. And that's a great exercise for people to think about for themselves, right? Not just about your business.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, if for the same reasons about knowing where you're going, knowing what that everything you're doing is aligning behind what you want. And one of the things I do get people to do, and it was interesting just reading that out there because it kind of energize me. If it's a team that I'm working with, I will get them to sit there with their eyes closed, I get them to sit upright, and I get them to clear their heads and imagine the future. And then I will read their vision statement back to them and see how that energizes them and get them to write down all their thoughts after they've heard that vision statement back. And I encourage people to read it back, read it back, and does that energize you? Go and read it to someone else in the business and does that energize them? So, you know, don't be don't be shy of your vision statement. Be proud of it, be proud of where you want to go.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, listen, and that and that's really important, is that it becomes personal and it's something that you're willing to do that with. Neil's not uncomfortable reading out that mission, that vision statement there. You you know, some people might feel subconscious and uncomfortable with that to start with. That's okay, right? But you need to get over that because you've got to get people on board with it if you're talking it being in your in your corporate or your your work role.
SPEAKER_00:So we so we've talked about why complaining about hopefully everyone's got that now. We've got a moment, don't get too hung up on it, but you know, because of vision and mission, something. But there are lots of it's just what's got to be words that explain where you want to be. The how is you as a leader pulling it together, then involving as many people as you can in that process, or and and doing it for yourself as well. And the who should set this is every single leader in every organization at every level, and personally set it for yourself.
SPEAKER_01:I think there's one more that we didn't we didn't plan to talk about, but we could do it. It's a very quick one is when when? When do I do a vision?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:What would you say? Anytime. I mean, look, if you've just joined a team, that's a good time to do it. But you could do it anytime. The fact you haven't done it doesn't mean you go, oh, I've missed it, I've missed the milestone of setting a vision, let's just carry on. You could do it at any time. Something may have changed in the business that caused you to revisit, but at any time you can go stop the bus. We don't actually have a vision, guys, as a team. Let's create one. It is harder if you do it with a team that you've been working with for two years and then you suddenly think you need a vision, but there's nothing the matter with that. There's nothing the matter with that at all. No, it's what do you what do you think, Neil? What's your point?
SPEAKER_00:100%. You can do it anytime, and you should do it anytime if you have if you haven't got one, that should be top of your priority list because your business will perform better, your team will perform better, uh you'll perform better when you know where you're going, when that vision is in place and you and you and you've got it aligned and you're passionate about it. Um so when is yeah, you could do it anytime, but keep going back to it, keep reminding yourself of it, keep reading it back and engaging everyone with it.
SPEAKER_01:We've run for quite a while here, actually, but I hope for our audience that is all really useful stuff. And we'll put some structure around that. The other thing that Neil and I are doing is we're focusing and also having some blogs written. Look out for that as well, guys. You've got our videos, you've got our podcasts, and we're also putting blogs together for you as well. So we've we try to put some structure around this that hopefully you can benefit from that. And please share it, please share it with people.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I was just gonna say, what I'd love for people to share with us is what's your vision statement, what's your vision for your team, for your business, for you individually. Please put it in the comments to this podcast, send it through through our website, through the leadershipdetectives.com. If you want to have a free coaching session about building a vision, please reach out. We've done a couple recently which uh really enjoyed engaging with people who have not met before. So, you know, please reach out. We'd we're happy to help with a free coaching session.
SPEAKER_01:So, should we wrap there? Good session, yeah, really good session. I look, I hope this has worked for the team, guys. It's really good to talk to you here again today. As I say, look out for the podcast coming through. We'll put some stuff in that blog. If you can give us some of those visions, statements, and uh, or missions before we get drafting on the blog, maybe we can share some of that on our website as well. Yeah, happy to do all of that, guys. So, yeah, really good. So, Neil, I'll need you to finally close off.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. Okay, no, thanks everyone for joining. Please subscribe, please like, please share. We want to help as many people as we can, and the way we do that is by you guys sharing the message as well. It's been a pleasure driving in this uh through this conversation. Albert, great to see you again. Thanks for all your input. We look forward to talking next week. Have a great one. See you guys.
SPEAKER_01:Take care. Thank you for listening to the Leadership Detectives with Neil Thubbron and Albert Joseph. Please remember to subscribe, give us your comments and your feedback. Please also visit leadershipdetectives.com for all the episodes and more resources and support.