We speak a lot with business leaders about how they can achieve their vision, without having to make the sort of sacrifices which will ultimately impact their sense of fulfilment when they find success. It is possible to have it both ways – personal and professional success – but it hinges on getting the people around you to share in your vision.
When everybody is pushing the same direction, it becomes that bit easier to make things happen. By inspiring people to adopt the company’s vision as their own, they feel invested in the business – their job is no longer just something that pays the mortgage, but the enabler for making their dreams possible.
In an article for Business Insider, Luke Anear founder and chief executive of SafetyCulture, gives four ways leaders can get staff to share in their vision:
1. Delegate responsibility
Delegating responsibility is important for two reasons. It helps you share the burden of leading a business – crucial for maintaining a sense of self-identity and seeking fulfilment in your personal life. It also shows your staff that your trust them, encouraging them to buy into what you’re trying to achieve with the business. You won’t get anywhere fast if you don’t build trusting relationships with those who can help you realise your vision.
2. Invest in people
To ensure that people feel comfortable taking on additional responsibility, you need to invest in them and give them the tools to do their job to the best of their ability. As well as providing opportunities to improve the skills relevant to their responsibilities, invest in resources that are aligned to, and reinforce, your vision.
3. Create a great culture
Your company culture sets the precedent for how inspired staff are to achieve all that you aspire for the business. It needs to be one which motivates them to give their all for the company, whereby they are working towards objectives that they are committed to achieving. People need to feel like they can both share and challenge ideas, so transparency is key to a great culture.
4. Tell your story
As business leaders, we can be guilty of putting a guard up which prevents us from divulging the intimate details of the journey which brought us to where we are today. But in keeping those facts a secret, we are preventing those around us from investing emotionally in our vision. It’s time to let the guard down a little to share the story of the company and the purpose of why we do what we do.
If you sense that your vision is not being shared by your staff, it’s time to do things a bit differently, otherwise it’s always going to feel like you’re swimming against the tide rather than with it. Agnentis Partners can help you make the necessary changes, be it to implement a purpose-driven culture or manage a team of people.
We are currently offering a complimentary one-hour coaching session to all business leaders who feel like their vision is getting away from them.
