For a leader to be conscientious it is not enough to work hard. There are others in your employ to consider and they must move towards the same goal as you and deliver what you want. This next section discusses the skills to help you become a conscientious and therefore confident leader.
Vision
‘Leadership is an ability to paint the picture of what success looks like and articulate it.’
Peter Lederer,Chairman of Gleneagles Hotels
Many leaders think that the company vision for the future is up for grabs and all can join in. This is mistaken. It is the leader’s job to create the vision and mission statements. You can always tell a vision statement created by committee. For a start they are never concise statements more like treatises as they try to keep everyone happy. You will see them in reception areas with numerous bullet points. No one looks and no one remembers. What a well-intentioned waste of time.
Look at the Bimbo and Boeing visions. They have ‘group think’ written all over them. Boeing’s first statement is fine, if a bit woolly. The rest is lovely but who could remember it. Compare it with an old Starbucks one; ‘2000 coffee shops by the year 2000’. Now call me old-fashioned but I would remember that. In fact, as I was writing this section my computer crashed and I lost all the vision material I had collected. It was interesting to note the ones I remembered. They were the clever, the short, and the punchy.
Bimbo
We are:
- The world leader in the baking industry and one of the best companies in the international food industry.
- A company with trustworthy, leading brands for our consumers.
- Our customers’ preferred supplier.
- A strong and sound company for our stakeholders.
- A forward-looking company.
- An extraordinary place to work in.
Boeing
People working together as a global enterprise for aerospace leadership.
- People – A company, any company, is nothing more or less than the people who make it up.
- Working – This is about effort. Work. We all have a task to do. We are here to provide value to our shareholders, to Boeing people, and to communities where we work.
- Together – Every organization has forces that try to divide and reduce the impact of the total. Lockheed Martin does. Airbus does. And Boeing does. The more we can pull together, share knowledge, the stronger we will be.
- One – We have a shared destiny. We will succeed or fail together. There is one Boeing stock price. This is a powerful concept. It can make us more efficient and competitive. For example, having a leak in a boat and not helping each other bail out the water is not a successful strategy. Looking for common solutions to problems, sharing facilities, sharing services, are all part of being ‘One.’
- Global – If we are to compete effectively in the next century, we will be a global company. Our team will reflect global backgrounds and global experience.
- Company – A company is a cohesive, inclusive institution. The dictionary uses words like ‘assemblage’, ‘fellowship.’
- Aerospace – We are an aerospace company. We are not going to build railcars or boats. We are going to build aerospace products: airplanes, launch vehicles, satellites.
- Leadership – We are not here to be also-rans. We are here to lead, to be the best, nothing less.
During an interview with me, Brian Davis, former CEO of the Nationwide Building Society, talked about the importance of short vision and mission statements. When you have three people, even thirty people, a company can still be about you but, he said, when you have three hundred or three thousand it has to be all about them. And to mobilize that number of people you require a good memorable vision for the future.
Actually I think even with three it should be all about them if you want their help to build your business.
You are about to prepare your own vision of the future. Imagine where you want to be in the marketplace, with what product, with whom. A vision should last for two to three years, perhaps longer if it is a good call to action, and then it will need to be updated. Start to write down any ideas that come to you. Here are some guidelines.
Guidelines for a memorable vision statement
One sentence – any longer and you forget.
Specific to your company and marketplace – give me a pound for every vision that is ‘be the best that you can be’. Ho hum! Your vision should make business sense and be unique to your organization.
Motivational – a vision should propel and inspire you and others towards a future goal.
Stretching – it should move everyone on to higher achievements beyond the everyday.
Moral – some feeling of good for all is compelling.
Aesthetically pleasing – your use of language should be crafted to look and sound good. It has to last for some years.
Action oriented – ‘a vision without action is a daydream, action without vision is a nightmare’, an old Japanese proverb.
Vision examples
Have a look at the examples below and choose your favourites, then craft your own in their likeness.
Amazon.com
Our vision is to be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
Dell
Dell listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value.
eBay
eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity.
Google
To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Starbucks
Starbuck’s vision was 2,000 shops by the year 2000.
Microsoft
Bill Gates’ Microsoft vision was – There will be a personal computer on every desk running Microsoft software.
Chrysler
Lee Iacocca’s vision statement when at Chrysler was: If you find a better car.... buy it!
Kraft
Kraft’s vision is helping people round the world eat and live better.
Nike
Nike in the 1990s Crush Adidas.
Johnson and Johnson
Put the needs and wellbeing of the people we serve first.
Henry Ford
About the automobile; when I’m through.....everyone will have one.
So now create your vision for your team, department, company, or just yourself.
Create your overall vision for your business or part of a business below.
Mission statements to deliver to deadlines
Brian Davis, my guru for all things visionary, told me that he would retire to a hot bath to contemplate the goals for the ensuing six months and come up with a slogan to focus the troops. These he called mission statements.
So now that you have articulated your vision, think of what you and your colleagues are going to focus on over the next six months to get to your overall vision. Your slogan should not be more than six or seven words as that is all we remember easily. So start with a list of all that you need to achieve. Notice if any themes emerge and bring those together in a sentence. Focus on keywords and cut out extraneous pronouns and verbs. Now you have a punchy slogan.
Guidelines for a mission statement
Positive – think inspirational.
Short and pithy – think TV ad.
Commercial – think business difference.
In the boxes below write:
Your business mission statement
Your personal mission statement for the role you plan to play in your business
With your team slogan in place come up with some ideas of whereyou can emblazon it for the next six months. Mugs, tee shirts, banners round the office, screen savers, anywhere that reminds everyone of the focus of endeavours. With so many distractions, missions are forgotten and tangents followed. Be creative with your mission merchandise.
Steps to confidence at work
- Articulate a vision of what you want to happen at work and talk about it often. It takes people with you.
- Create a slogan for a motivational mission statement every six months. Create one for yourself too as it keeps you on track.
Confidence at Work, Get it, Feel It, Keep It by Ros Taylor was published by Kogan Page in January 2011 and is available in bookshops and online at £10.99.
See also: 'Walk slowly among your people and smile' by Mark Jackson in The People Bulletin, 14th July 2010