Business leaders get told all the time that they have to be visionary. But most struggle with that.
Sometimes it is because their makeup is much more suited to operational management. One solution advocated by Gino Wickman with his EOS approach and covered in the book "Rocket Fuel" is that you need both a "Visionary" and an "integrator" in a business. As much as this helps in some circumstances, it isn't quite as simple as that.
For example, there's a danger that some leaders think they are "Visionary" but which is actually just using their gut to make decisions and it’s worked a couple of times. There is no guarantee of it happening again. As Marshall Goldsmith said "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" and those who are focused on getting stuff done may look around a struggle to find anyone else to be the visionary.
True visionaries have a methodology, often driven subconsciously and even those who have been labelled as "Operational" can also learn the basics.
I have seen so many organisations produce the Vision and Mission statements that are meaningless at best and are often out of date. These days, the biggest mistake leaders can make is trying to directly answer the question "What is the vision for your business?" It’s hard, isn't it? If you do answer this, how confident are you that it is right? No, gut feel isn't good enough.
Instead of answering the question - "what is the vision for your business?" Leaders should ask three questions. The first two cover the vision for your industry and the role you could play in creating that vision. The third question is what makes it real.
Question 1. "What is your vision for your industry / sector?"
This allows usually a much greater clarity - technological, economic, demographic trends are readily available. Bill Gates said in 2009 "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten." Gordon Moore, the originator of the famous Moore's law about capability and cost of computers was a vision for an industry not just Intel. This question is still true for well established players in mature markets - for example, in the accounting and legal professions the purpose remains the same but technology enablers are changing the talent required.
Question 2: "What is the role your company / organisation will play within this vision?"
This is often where the "ahah" moment comes. Intel pivoted from being a memory chip manufacturer to making microprocessors. COVID has forced many businesses to really reflect on that they are. Jim Collins, in Good to Great, describes the truly great leaders as focusing on their "hedgehog" - what they (as an organisation) care passionately about, what they can be the best in the world at and what is the economic engine that drives success. Read more about the Hedgehog Concept here.
Splitting the Vision question into two allows a number of things.
It lets others help with the vision
It has its own sanity check - it allows greater challenge leading to more robustness.
It is coming from outside the box rather inside; there is less risk of being disrupted and a better chance of identifying how to be the disrupter.
It is much more likely to identify who your competitors might be in the future
It is much more likely to identify who your strategic partners might be in the future
Question 3: “What are the brutal facts?”
Now you have a vision for the industry you are in and have a clear view, shared by others, as to how your company can play a role in creating this vision, you'd think the job is done. A Joined-Up leader asks one final question - again thanks to Jim Collins for the terminology - "What are the brutal facts?"
This leads, finally, to business strategy. The brutal facts may possibly change your view of the role you can play but more often just helps frame the journey ahead and, in particular, the first steps of that journey.
