Over the past few years I have been coaching a number of small business owners and am continually amazed that they have not spent the time developing and living by their vision, mission & values. I’m not sure why I’m so surprised as many have not had that type of training or have not been able to take the time to reflect. They may have worked in organizations that had a vision however no one had bought into it – mainly because it was wordy, developed by the leaders and not moved down into their organizations.

Realizing this, developing these key ingredients has become a first step when working with an enterprise or team. Without the vision, how can you know where your going? What I emphasize with my clients is that every activity must be able to relate back to your vision. If it doesn’t, then the next question is ‘why are you doing it?’ The vision must also be able to excite you as the owner and your employees also. If it doesn’t, it might need work or the employees might not be the right fit for the company. When working with groups and entrepreneurs I very often use the original Star Trek example – ‘Space, the final frontier’. If you were an explorer, how would that not excite you. This thought fits very well into the work of Simon Sinek (Start with Why) and Ben Zander’s work with the Boston Philharmonic. The Boston Philharmonic’s vision is ‘passionate music making without boundaries’. The examples of how they live it are very powerful!

Another key element is values – for you and your organization. How well have you identified your values? How well do you live them? In my workshops and time spent with business owners we do exercises to identify what their values are and how will they and their business live them. I find it very exciting when we finish these topics and they have created their vision and identified their values. I hear excitement in their voice and a spring in their step as we exit!

So – how exciting is your vision? How well do you live the values you or your team have committed to? If they’re not working for you, find a coach who can lead you through the process and help you discover the spring in your step again!