So, you want to get to a specific location—let’s say Grand Island, Nebraska.
To get there in the timeliest fashion, you need a specific tool: a map.
Nowadays, this map may come in other forms, such as a GPS, your phone, or printed directions from MapQuest. But the fact remains that you still need a map to reach your destination.
You need a map because you have never been there and you don’t know the way.
Now, think about where you want to take your company. Have you been there before?
Your Company Needs a Map
My hope is that you want to take your company somewhere it hasn’t been. Stagnant companies don’t last long.
Do you have a map?
This map doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out business plan. You heard me right. You don’t have to spend weeks figuring out every detail of your plan for the year.
But you do have to take the time to think through where you want to go and determine which roads will get you there.
I hear so many business leaders tell me they know where their companies are going. “It is all in here,” they say as they point to their heads.
But I would venture to guess that your employees are not mind readers and that your plans may not be as clear as you think.
Take the time to get everyone in your company on the same page about where the company is going and how it will get there.
Answer the Eight Questions
You can create that clarity by answering eight simple questions:
- What are your Core Values?
- What is your Core Focus?
- What is your 10-Year Target™?
- What is your high-level Marketing Strategy?
- What is your 3-Year Picture™?
- What is your 1-Year Plan™?
- What are your Rocks, or quarterly priorities?
- What Issues are getting in the way of achieving your Vision?
Turn Your Vision Into a Plan
Developing these answers will take time, but it will be time well spent.
It is vital that your entire company knows the answers to these questions. If they don’t, not everyone will be moving along the same path.
To reach your destination, you need everyone’s energy pulling and pushing in the same direction. If that direction isn’t clear, it simply isn’t going to happen.
The Vision/Traction Organizer™ (V/TO™) is a simple, practical tool that can help your leadership team answer these questions and communicate the plan clearly.
My hope for you this year is that you’re able to reach your own Grand Island, Nebraska.
