Ep 40 - One Tip on How to Create a Shared Vision With Your Team

Hello and welcome to Power Up Your Team podcast. This is your free resource with tips for how to build a more resilient team. 

Without doubt it is challenging to keep a team motivated and on board. It may feel like an extra thing to do when your plate is already full.

You have a clear vision and are excited about it. You can visualize how things will be five years from now.  Maybe you envision a steady revenue line and a comfortable profit position. And, after many years with a bare bone salary for yourself, you can even give yourself a raise. 

In your mind, you can hear raving reviews from your customers and your competition curls under the table. Your employees are thrilled now that they are working in a nicer space. And you envision yourself having more time to think strategically because your team is running the day-to-day business independently. 

You carry this image of your future in your head and your heart. And this image is what gets you out of bed every morning. 

But you are wondering if your team shares this exciting vision with you!

You have shared where you want to take your business from a financial and marketing perspective.  And your team may just say “Ok more work coming our way”. 

 Maybe you talked about your personal vision. For instance, that you want to be on the top 40 under 40 list published by Forbes Magazine.  That’s a awesome goal but it’s hard for your team to buy into. Because is your personal goal.

 So how can you create a shared vision that your whole team will rally around?  

You have to invest the time to co-create that vision with your team.

Have you ever heard someone say paint me a picture? Or, a picture says more than thousand words?

I believe, creating a vision board is a great way to engage your team. Vision boards have become known as a means to manifest a personal vision but they work for a team as well.

Creating a vision board can be a fun team activity where you take a scrapbook approach to visualize the business future on a large white board. You can use magazine snippets, photos, drawings, paintings and other stuff to create a collage where everyone can see themselves represented.

This activity will also bond the team together. If you have a remote team, you can bring them together in person for this important event. 

Find out what opportunities they see for your business.  Maybe they have other ideas and expand the vision that you had in your head. You learn how your business vision translates into a shared purpose and an individual vision for each team member.

Where you see yourself as the top service provider listed in an industry magazine, they envision themselves talking to a friend and sharing that they now work for a very successful company (as opposed to a small startup with an uncertain future).

Where you see yourself having a steady stream of clients and a growing top line, they are excited about more career opportunities or flexible work hours. 

While you are seeing yourself as an established expert at an industry event, they can see themselves working in a bigger office or having better work-from-home equipment. 

While the vision is shared, the meaning is different for each and every team member. The key is that they all can see themselves in that future and are bought in with their hearts and minds. 

And the best way to get there is to co-create that vision. Having the dialogue so it becomes a colorful image that ignites yourself and your team every day. 

So don’t be the only visionary in your business. Get your team on board so they can support you as you lead your business to the next level of success.