Leaders Build Ownership of their Vision

Have you ever wanted to make a momentous change in your organization? Where you successful? Did you face opposition?

We have all wanted to make changes, however, change is not easy.

As I prepared to assume my first leadership position, I spent a lot of time reviewing the organization’s performance. I realized we needed to make significant changes to accomplish our mission. To achieve success, I needed the members of the organization to take ownership of a bold vision of excellence.

Prior to assuming my new role, I met with individual members of the organization. The primary purpose of the meetings was to receive input on the current state of the organization. Based on the feedback, I created a bold vision to move the organization forward.

After assuming my new role, I conducted my first official staff meeting. As you can imagine, I was excited to share my vision for the organization. To start the meeting, I reviewed the past three years of performance. As I discussed the data, everyone nodded and agreed, we needed to make some changes.

As I looked around the room, I thought, now is the time to share my vision for the organization. So, I launched into my prepared speech. For the next five minutes, I painted a picture of what our organization could achieve in the future. My goal was to inspire and mobilize my staff to own the vision.

After sharing my vision, I asked each person to answer two questions. First, what was their role in accomplishing the vision? The second question was what did they need to accomplish the vision? Next, I asked them to rewrite the vision to include their role in accomplishing the vision.

[callout]We framed each person’s vision statement and placed in their work area.[/callout]

Each department created goals to support their vision. While we didn’t achieve all of our goals, we made considerable progress. Over the next three years, our performance data improved significantly.

Why was it important for the members of the organization to own the vision? Because ownership of the vision is essential to turning your vision into reality.

[shareable cite=”John Scully”]The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”[/shareable]

So how do we encourage others to own the vision and make the necessary changes? The following six steps will help members of your team take ownership of your vision:

1. Describe success
2. Be solution orientated
3. Recognize what is already working
4. Express confidence in their ability
5. Define next steps
6. Celebrate wins

David Gergen said, “A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” Your leadership will determine the direction of your organization.

Have you built ownership with your team?

Your friend,
Kim

Dr. Kim Moore | Your Leadership Guide | kimdmoore.com