Turning vision into momentum
Your vision is clear as mud.
Or it might be… if you haven’t been intentional enough about bringing it to life for your team.
Many of the owners we’ve worked with tell us they’ve shared their vision with the team, multiple times. The team is clear, the team gets it.
But then you talk to the team, and they’re confused. They don’t get it.
Or, they think they get it, but they’re describing something different. They haven’t fully understood where you want to go.
Of course there are some owners who aren’t even sure themselves where they’re steering the business, and that’s a foundational problem.
However, even when you’re confident that you’ve set a clear destination, a hidden gap often remains. You know where you want to take the business and you’re pushing hard to get there. But the team doesn’t see it, and they’re all pulling in different directions.
Owners often don’t realize when there’s a disconnect. They think: The the team is working hard, we must be making progress. At times, though, it can end up feeling like you’re running in place.
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Tappers and listeners
A Stanford researcher asked people to tap the rhythm of simple songs, like Happy Birthday and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Others listened to the tapping and tried to guess the song.
The tappers believed listeners would guess the song correctly at least half the time. In reality, the listeners got just one in forty correct.
It turns out that once you know something, it’s almost impossible to imagine what it’s like not to know it.
This is what happens inside businesses large and small. A leader has a bold, vivid vision in mind. It’s crystal clear to them. They’re tapping it out every day, assuming everyone else can hear the music.
But they don’t hear it. Getting people to “get” the vision requires purposefully translating it for your team: from your head, to paper, to story, to culture.
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How to get everyone singing along
1. Make the vision personal.
Start with you. Where do you find meaning? What gets you out of bed in the morning? And how does that connect to the company’s purpose and future path?
My team worked with one leader in a very rural area who told us, “If my business fails, the whole town disappears.” He wasn’t just running a company, he was looking out for his friends and neighbors, protecting his community.
Another leader, a contractor, found purpose in how he was able to impact his clients’ lives through his beautiful renovation work: “Seeing someone cry happy tears when they walk into their new space… that’s why I do this.”
Yet another leader, a lifelong athlete, said simply: “I love winning.” Her vision was about being the best at what she did, and building a championship team to win with her.
When you link your vision to what truly moves you, it stops being words on paper and becomes a compelling call to action.
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2. Make it personal for your team, too.
Help every team member find their meaning inside the vision.
Different people are driven by different things. Don’t assume they value the same things you do. Help your team see how the vision ties to meaning across five dimensions:
Personal growth and success
A great team experience
Client or customer impact
The company’s success
Community or social good
When everyone can connect the vision to something they personally care about, alignment becomes emotional, not just intellectual.
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3. Paint a confident picture.
Most teams quietly wonder:
What’s the gap? Are you really steering us toward something better? What exactly are we trying to achieve? Why do we need to change? Why isn’t what we’re doing today good enough?
How will we close the gap? What’s the plan? What will we do differently this time? Why will this work? Is this another “flavor of the week,” or is there a real commitment to change?
Answering these questions builds both clarity and confidence. You’re painting a picture of an exciting destination, setting a clear path to get there, and really bringing people along on the journey.
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4. Keep the vision front and center.
Talk about the vision A LOT. Keep it truly top of mind for everyone on the team.
Have routine discussions about progress toward the goal. Understand where the team is running into roadblocks and work together to come up with solutions that keep things moving.
Celebrate wins! Make people see and feel how much you value their hard work and willingness to try new things. Reward team members who take action to move you closer to the goal.
Make sure everybody knows what game they’re playing, every day, and that they’re showing up excited to win.
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Vision has to be felt
Until the whole team is rowing in the same direction with conviction, your business stays slow. And it remains dependent on you. Aligned direction helps your team work more autonomously toward outstanding results.
When are the next dozen times you can find an opportunity to talk about your company vision? Not just one or two times, but a real routine. And, can you say differently to make it really resonate?
A truly shared vision is a critical foundation for a successful and autonomous business.
