Why do organisations have a VMV board? This is the ubiquitous board in most lobbies and websites that have the vision, mission and values. It is rare to find any organisation that doesn’t have that board.
There are very solid reasons as to why organisations should have the VMV board. The board says a lot about the culture of the organisation or rather it should speak volumes about that entity.
The ingredients of the VMV board are the vision statement which means where the organisation should be in the future, the mission statement which says what the organisation is presently doing and the value system that the organisation espouses, these are the fundamental beliefs that drive that particular organisation.
Let us laser focus on the vision statement and more particularly the vision bearer. Every vehicle ought to have a drive. Every aeroplane must have a pilot. Ditto for the ship. Without the vision captain that organisation will disappear from the face of the earth. Without a vision driver that organisation will fizzle out from the competitive marketplace.
What makes one a memorable visionary? When we are talking about vision bearing we are essentially and necessarily talking organisational leadership. Leadership isn’t so much about position and power. We are talking about a frame of mind.
Indelible leadership is about certain mental apparatus. How the leaders in the organisation spread the fuel within, which is influence. The most successful visionary bearers are those who have a growth mindset. Organisations are meant to grow in their various objectives that set.
The visionary plants seeds of growth consistently. A visionary is super imaginative. A visionary is assertive and bold. A visionary gives birth to fresh ideas that can be planted to germinate and thereafter bear discernible fruits. Therefore, the work of a visionary is self-evident. Visionaries are the chief entrepreneurs of the organisation. Pause. Everyone should become a visionary. In other words, the chief entrepreneur should create a culture where every single person is trained, coached and mentored on how to drive the bigger picture of the organisation.
The essence of the future should permeate throughout the organisation. The vision should permeate through the pores of the organisation. This can be achieved through leaders who have invested in resulted-oriented communication skills.
The principal influencer of the organisation has to avail endless opportunities to inculcate in everyone the fuel that fertilises greatness.
The organisational captain transmits the message through top-level executives. The message has to sink through employee engagement activities like town halls and meetings, the vision has to be driven through service and product development. The message is to penetrate through stakeholder engagement. The vision has to be felt through customer experience.
Can vision be measured in mathematical terms? This is where monitoring and evaluation are of paramount importance. Data insights are dear to a visionary. Peter Drucker has told us to believe in that which can be measured can be achieved.
Vision is and ought to be about strategic thinking and practice. When we look at the future we see it as a set of complexities that have to be navigated. The visionary is able to at least with some synergy able to discern these multifaceted occurrences. A visionary seeks to understand the future and thereafter benefit from that jigsaw puzzle.
Magoma is an award-winning HR trainer and conference speaker.
