As an entrepreneur, you can have a vision for your company—in fact, you must have one—but it won’t do you much good if you’re the only one who sees it clearly.

We say this all the time: Everyone has a vision for the company. The problem is that each one of your employees’ visions could be completely different from yours. It’s important to align everyone so that  we prevent them from each pulling their own way. When we are aligned and focused the company can gain traction to achieve the vision. As Gino Wickman says: “Vision without traction is hallucination.” It’s the only way you’re going to gain traction.

Getting on the same page

You’ve likely heard a version of the story about a group of blind men who are asked to describe an elephant. One feels the elephant’s trunk and says, “It’s nothing but a giant snake.” Another feels the elephant’s ear and says, “It must be a big fan.” Another feels the elephant’s tail and says, “There’s nothing here but a rope.” As an entrepreneur, you can have a vision for your company—in fact, you must have a vision for your company—but it won’t do you much good if you’re the only one who sees it clearly. Unless, of course, you are and plan to be the only person your business ever hires. If you’re just starting out and you have no leadership team in place, you get to define that vision all by yourself. The goal is to be able to visualize and articulate the intended future state of your organization. If you’ve got a leadership team in place because your business is further along in its evolution, they need to agree in the interpretation of that intended future state. Is it a rope or a tail?

8 Questions

The goal is to get your vision out of your head, and there are 8 questions that can help you get to where everyone can see and agree on where your organization is going and how you will get there. The EOS Method provides this as a tool called the V/TO, the Vision/Traction Organizer. A great vision answers these 8 questions.

1. What are our core values? Core values define your culture. They define how you do things. I suggest picking 3 to 5 core values you would use to surround yourselves with the right people who are the right fit for getting things done the way you want to. Core values should not be words on a wall – they should be brought to life and lived day to day in the company.
2. What is our core focus? Once you agree on the core values that define how you do things, it’s time to get your people moving down the same path, focused and undistracted from this shared purpose or cause. Your leadership team will make all of its decisions with this core focus in mind so we don’t deviate from our objectives with distractions, something I like to call ‘shiny object syndrome.’
3. What is our 10-year target? Jim Collins called this the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). It’s that far outrageous goal that you don’t need to justify. It’s where you want to be in 10 years –  we always underestimate what we can accomplish in 10 years and overestimate what will happen in 1. If you maintain your focus and keep yourself from being distracted, what will be the big goal  that you accomplish 10 years from now?
4. What is our marketing strategy? Now that you know how you do things, why you do it, and you have a 10-year target, it’s time to define how you’re going to get there by focusing your marketing and sales efforts. You’ll define your target audience and determine the compelling message you’ll deliver to them.
5. What is our 3-year picture? What should it look like when you’re 3 years into your 10-year target? This isn’t an epic novel. Bullet points will do. Select some measurable indicators so that your team knows that you are getting closer. I prefer to use a measurable that is different than revenue or profit. You want 5 to 15 measurable points that will give you a clear sense of what the business looks like 36 months from now.
6. What is our 1-year plan? Do you see a pattern here? You’re going from 10 to 3 to 1. Here, you’re going to define 3 to 7 goals for this year that will move you towards achieving the bullet points in your 3-year picture.
7. What are our “rocks”? If you’ve been thinking that it feels as if this exercise is bringing you in for a landing, here’s where you touch ground. The 1-year plan now is telescoped to just 13 weeks. What are your highest priorities for the next 13 week period to move you a quarter of the way toward accomplishing everything in your 1-year plan?
8. What are our  issues? You’ve been specific during this exercise. You’ve reached the point where you’re really just focused on the next 13 weeks—but, let’s be realistic—there are going to be issues left on the table to discuss and solve in future quarters. Here’s where you’re going to list them, so they’re quickly available when the time is right to address them.

As leaders, we should revisit Vision’s 8 questions as much as we can. EOS encourages us to do this at least every quarter when we stop and think about the business moving forward. That way we remind each other of what our Vision is and how, why, what, when to accomplish it. We achieve one vision, aligned by all. Vision without traction is a hallucination. We can dream all we want, but without action it will remain just a dream. Download the EOS V/TO template and work with your leadership team to answer these 8 questions.

Empower your Leadership Team and improve efficiency, increase value, and foster collaboration to get better results. A professional Facilitator can ensure that all of your members are on the same page, so you can kick your business up a notch. Connect with The Profit Recipe to Achieve Traction.