Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / Building A Vision That Guides Decisions And Inspires Action With Jennifer Ann Johnson
Transcript
- 0:36Jennifer Johnson: Today we're diving into one of the most critical yet often overlooked aspects of leadership.
- 0:43Jennifer Johnson: And that is creating a vision that doesn't just sound good on paper but actually moves people to action.
- 0:51Jennifer Johnson: Now, I have seen countless organizations with beautiful mission statements that are hanging on their walls that nobody really believes in.
- 0:59Jennifer Johnson: I've watched teams go through the motions of strategic planning sessions that produce documents that everybody forgets about within a week.
- 1:06Jennifer Johnson: And I've been part of companies where leadership teams were passionate about the vision, but somehow that passion never translated to the people that were actually doing the work.
- 1:14Jennifer Johnson: Or for that matter, the customers who are actually buying the products.
- 1:18Jennifer Johnson: And here's what I've learned: there's a massive difference between having a vision and having a vision that people believe in.
- 1:24Jennifer Johnson: The first are just words on a page.
- 1:27Jennifer Johnson: The second is a magnetic force that aligns behavior.
- 1:31Jennifer Johnson: It drives decisions and creates momentum that compounds over time.
- 1:36Jennifer Johnson: So today I want to talk about bridging that gap and how do you create a vision that your team wakes up excited to work towards?
- 1:42Jennifer Johnson: And how do you craft something that your customers don't just buy into, but actually advocate for?
- 1:48Jennifer Johnson: And how do you ensure that vision becomes the invisible hand that guides every single thing that you do rather than just another corporate poster that everybody ignores?
- 1:59Jennifer Johnson: So let's start with why most organizational visions fail to inspire anybody.
- 2:05Jennifer Johnson: And I think there's really three fundamental problems that plague the majority of vision statements that I've seen.
- 2:11Jennifer Johnson: First, they're created in isolation.
- 2:13Jennifer Johnson: You get a small group of executives who lock themselves in a conference room for a day with the whiteboard.
- 2:19Jennifer Johnson: They've got some aspirational, inspirational language, and then they unveil it to the rest of the organization like it's some kind of divine revelation.
- 2:28Jennifer Johnson: The problem is if people weren't part of creating it, they're not going to feel ownership in it.
- 2:34Jennifer Johnson: I remember working in a company where the leadership team spent months crafting what they thought was an inspiring vision about transforming how people connect with technology.
- 2:45Jennifer Johnson: Sounded great in the boardroom, but when they shared it with their engineering team, the response was basically a collective who cares?
- 2:53Jennifer Johnson: Why?
- 2:55Jennifer Johnson: Because the engineers saw themselves as solving something specific, something technical, not transforming human technology relationships.
- 3:04Jennifer Johnson: The vision was too abstract and it really disconnected from what they did on a daily basis.
- 3:09Jennifer Johnson: Second, most visions are either too vague or they're too tactical.
- 3:14Jennifer Johnson: The vague ones sound like they could apply to any company in any industry.
- 3:17Jennifer Johnson: You know the ones, you've heard them.
- 3:19Jennifer Johnson: We strive to be the leading provider of innovative solutions on and on and on.
- 3:24Jennifer Johnson: That's not a vision.
- 3:26Jennifer Johnson: That's a corporate kind of mad lib.
- 3:30Jennifer Johnson: On the other hand, there's over tactical ones that go into specifics about products or our markets that they become too restrictive and they're not inspiring enough.
- 3:40Jennifer Johnson: And then finally, this is the big one.
- 3:43Jennifer Johnson: Most visions are really internally focused.
- 3:45Jennifer Johnson: They're about what the company wants to achieve rather than what the company exists for to create for others to begin with.
- 3:52Jennifer Johnson: They answer the question: what do we want to become?
- 3:55Jennifer Johnson: instead of what world do we want to create?
- 3:59Jennifer Johnson: And here's the thing: people aren't ultimately motivated by success.
- 4:03Jennifer Johnson: They're motivated by their contribution.
- 4:07Jennifer Johnson: That's something to something that's actually meaningful.
- 4:10Jennifer Johnson: So, what does a believable vision look like?
- 4:13Jennifer Johnson: What are the characteristics that make people say, yes, I actually want to be a part of that rather than sure, whatever.
- 4:20Jennifer Johnson: So the most powerful visions connect to something that people really care about beyond their paycheck.
- 4:27Jennifer Johnson: They tap into personal values, personal aspirations, and desires to actually make a difference.
- 4:33Jennifer Johnson: When somebody can see how their individual contributions fits into a larger story, then they actually care about what you're trying to create, the vision.
- 4:44Jennifer Johnson: And everything changes for them.
- 4:46Jennifer Johnson: You know, I had worked as a consultant with a software company that was struggling to retain their talent.
- 4:52Jennifer Johnson: And their original vision was all about market leadership and technical excellence.
- 4:57Jennifer Johnson: Those are great goals, but not particularly inspiring to a 25-year-old developer who was thinking about jumping ship to start up their own company.
- 5:06Jennifer Johnson: We spent time talking to their team about what they actually cared about.
- 5:10Jennifer Johnson: And what emerged was a shared frustration with how complex and hostile most business software was.
- 5:17Jennifer Johnson: The developers had friends and family members who really struggled with clunky interfaces and confusing workflows at their jobs.
- 5:24Jennifer Johnson: And that insight led to a vision about making software as intuitive as the apps that people use.
- 5:31Jennifer Johnson: Suddenly, every feature that they built, every design and decision that they made, connected to helping real people have better days at work.
- 5:40Jennifer Johnson: A good vision should be concrete enough that it actually helps you make choices.
- 5:44Jennifer Johnson: It should be a filter that makes some options really aligned with who you are and others that are clearly not aligned.
- 5:51Jennifer Johnson: And if your vision is so broad that any reasonable business decision could fit within it, then it's not doing its job.
- 5:57Jennifer Johnson: It's not specific enough.
- 5:59Jennifer Johnson: One of my favorite examples is Patagonia's vision around environmental responsibility.
- 6:04Jennifer Johnson: It's not just uh we care about the environment.
- 6:07Jennifer Johnson: It's specific enough that it led them to tell customers not to buy their products unless they really needed them.
- 6:12Jennifer Johnson: How's that?
- 6:13Jennifer Johnson: A company telling somebody not to buy their products unless they really needed them.
- 6:18Jennifer Johnson: And they told them to either create or they created a repair program that extends the life of their product and that they donate their annual profits to fighting climate change.
- 6:30Jennifer Johnson: Their vision isn't just something that sounds nice, it drives behavior that sometimes goes against their short-term business goals and interests.
- 6:40Jennifer Johnson: The most compelling visions aren't about the company really at all.
- 6:43Jennifer Johnson: They're about the change that the company exists to create in the world.
- 6:47Jennifer Johnson: They focus on the impact and not the organization.
- 6:51Jennifer Johnson: This shift in perspective changes everything about how people relate to their work.
- 6:56Jennifer Johnson: Instead of the we want to be the leading provider of XYZ, it becomes we want to create a world where XYZ is possible.
- 7:05Jennifer Johnson: And instead of we want to build the best XYZ, it becomes we want to eliminate the frustration that XYZ currently causes.
- 7:14Jennifer Johnson: The difference, I know, is really subtle, but it's really profound.
- 7:17Jennifer Johnson: And it's one is about company success, and the other one is about company's contribution.
- 7:24Jennifer Johnson: And creating a vision that people actually believe in is something, isn't something that you could knock out in one afternoon brainstorming in the conference room.
- 7:33Jennifer Johnson: It requires a process that's strategic and human.
- 7:38Jennifer Johnson: I'm going to walk you through the approach that works, has worked best in my experience, and it'll kind of give you a roadmap on how to follow this.
- 7:47Jennifer Johnson: Start with pain points and not aspirations.
- 7:50Jennifer Johnson: Most vision processes start with questions like, where do we want to be in five years, or what do we want to achieve?
- 7:56Jennifer Johnson: I found that it's a lot more effective to start with frustrations.
- 7:59Jennifer Johnson: What breaks people's hearts about the current state of your industry?
- 8:03Jennifer Johnson: What keeps customers up at night?
- 8:04Jennifer Johnson: And what makes your team members complain about things at work today.
- 8:09Jennifer Johnson: When you start with those genuine pain points, the problems that people actually experience and care about, you create a foundation for a vision that feels necessary.
- 8:19Jennifer Johnson: People rally around solving those problems much more than they're going to rally around abstract aspirations or inspirations.
- 8:28Jennifer Johnson: Then the next one is involving people who actually have to live it.
- 8:32Jennifer Johnson: Your vision creation process should include voices from every single level of your organization, not just the executive team.
- 8:39Jennifer Johnson: The people doing the day-to-day work often have an insight that the leadership misses because they're not in their day-to-day, because they have it from a different angle.
- 11:15Jennifer Johnson: They know what actually motivates them to do their best work.
- 11:19Jennifer Johnson: But it's best to not just ask them for input.
- 11:22Jennifer Johnson: Create a genuine collaboration using workshops, focus groups, one-on-one conversation.
- 11:27Jennifer Johnson: Ask them questions like what would have to be true about our industry for you to be really excited to work in it?
- 11:35Jennifer Johnson: Or what change would you want your kids to thank you for contributing to?
- 11:39Jennifer Johnson: What would make your customers become advocates rather than just satisfied users?
- 11:46Jennifer Johnson: That's great questions.
- 11:47Jennifer Johnson: It's things that get them engaged.
- 11:50Jennifer Johnson: Then next, test it against reality.
- 11:52Jennifer Johnson: Once you have that draft vision, test it and test it ruthlessly.
- 11:58Jennifer Johnson: Does it help you make specific decisions when you're choosing between two product features?
- 12:02Jennifer Johnson: Does your vision point you in a clear direction?
- 12:05Jennifer Johnson: When you're hiring, does it help you identify the right cultural fit when you're communicating with your customers?
- 12:12Jennifer Johnson: Does it give you a compelling story to tell?
- 12:16Jennifer Johnson: Also, test it against cynicism.
- 12:19Jennifer Johnson: If someone were to push back on your vision with, well, that's just marketing talking, how would you respond?
- 12:26Jennifer Johnson: Could you point to specific actions that your company has taken that demonstrates genuine commitments to that vision?
- 12:33Jennifer Johnson: If not, then you may need to revision the vision itself or your commitment to actually living out that vision.
- 12:39Jennifer Johnson: Then making it stick with your team.
- 12:41Jennifer Johnson: Having a great vision is really only half the battle.
- 12:45Jennifer Johnson: The other half is embedding it so deeply in your organization's DNA that it influences their behavior even when no one is watching.
- 12:54Jennifer Johnson: This is when most companies actually fail in this.
- 12:57Jennifer Johnson: They create the vision and then they assume somehow it's by osmosis, it's just going to permeate the culture, and that doesn't work.
- 13:04Jennifer Johnson: You need to connect the individual roles to the bigger picture.
- 13:08Jennifer Johnson: Every person on your team should be able to articulate how the specific role contributes to their overall vision.
- 13:14Jennifer Johnson: It's not about giving everybody the same generic answer, it's about helping each person understand their unique contribution to the larger story.
- 13:25Jennifer Johnson: Your customer service team isn't just resolving complaints, they're removing the friction from people's lives.
- 13:31Jennifer Johnson: Your finance team isn't just managing budgets.
- 13:35Jennifer Johnson: They're ensuring that resources are allocated in ways that maximize the impact as their business.
- 13:41Jennifer Johnson: And your marketing team, they're not just there generating leads.
- 13:45Jennifer Johnson: They're helping the right people discover the right solutions to their problems.
- 13:50Jennifer Johnson: And that's changing lives.
- 13:53Jennifer Johnson: Take the time to have these conversations with each team member.
- 13:57Jennifer Johnson: Help them see their connection between their daily tasks and the changes that you're trying to create in the world.
- 14:03Jennifer Johnson: When people understand their role in the larger story, they make different choices about how to spend their time and energy.
- 14:10Jennifer Johnson: And then you need to celebrate the vision-aligned wins.
- 14:15Jennifer Johnson: What you celebrate actually sends a really powerful signal about what you value.
- 14:20Jennifer Johnson: If your vision about becoming customer empowered, but you only celebrate revenue milestones, people are going to conclude that revenue is really what matters.
- 14:30Jennifer Johnson: If your vision is about innovation, but you only recognize people who hit their numbers, people are thinking that, you know, innovation is just a cool thing to have.
- 14:39Jennifer Johnson: So make sure your recognition and your storytelling and your internal communications consistently highlight examples of people living out that vision.
- 14:48Jennifer Johnson: Share stories of team members who made decisions that aligned with your vision, even if it wasn't the easiest path for them to take.
- 14:55Jennifer Johnson: Celebrate customers who've experienced that change that you're trying to create.
- 15:00Jennifer Johnson: And make the vision something visible in your day-to-day culture.
- 15:06Jennifer Johnson: Use it as a decision filter.
- 15:08Jennifer Johnson: The real test of a vision is whether it actually influences people to make the right decisions.
- 15:13Jennifer Johnson: Start using your vision as an explicit filter in meetings and planning sessions and strategic discussions.
- 15:19Jennifer Johnson: When evaluating new opportunities, ask, how does this advance our vision?
- 15:24Jennifer Johnson: When facing difficult trade-offs, you may ask yourself, which option aligns better with the change that we're trying to create?
- 15:31Jennifer Johnson: It's not about being rigid or turning over your vision to a checklist.
- 15:37Jennifer Johnson: It's about creating a habit of connecting daily decisions that you need to make every day to a long-term purpose.
- 15:44Jennifer Johnson: And over time, that practice is going to train your team on how to think and work a little bit more differently.
- 15:53Jennifer Johnson: Then making it resonate with customers, it shouldn't just inspire a team, like I said, it should also attract and retain the customers who share your values.
- 16:02Jennifer Johnson: The most successful companies today aren't just selling products, they're inviting customers to be part of a movement, much like Patagonia was doing.
- 16:10Jennifer Johnson: And show don't just tell.
- 16:12Jennifer Johnson: Customers are skeptical of corporate messaging, and they should be.
- 16:15Jennifer Johnson: They see it every single day.
- 16:17Jennifer Johnson: They've been burned by companies that talk a good game but then don't follow through.
- 16:20Jennifer Johnson: So if you want customers to believe in your vision, you have to demonstrate it through and through, day in, day out, and not just in your advertising.
- 16:28Jennifer Johnson: It means making decisions that sometimes prioritize vision alignment over short-term profits.
- 16:33Jennifer Johnson: It means being transparent about your challenges and mistakes.
- 16:37Jennifer Johnson: And it means involving customers in your journey rather than just presenting them with polished outcomes.
- 16:41Jennifer Johnson: Creating shared experiences.
- 16:43Jennifer Johnson: Look for ways to let customers experience your vision rather than just hear about it.
- 16:48Jennifer Johnson: If your vision is about empowering small businesses, create forums where small business owners can actually connect and learn from each other.
- 16:56Jennifer Johnson: If it's about sustainable living, then offer workshops workshops.
- 17:01Jennifer Johnson: You get the whole picture.
- 17:03Jennifer Johnson: It's about creating those shared experiences.
- 17:06Jennifer Johnson: Then making them a hero.
- 17:08Jennifer Johnson: Your customers a hero.
- 17:10Jennifer Johnson: The most powerful customer relationships happen when customers see themselves as the hero of their own story.
- 17:17Jennifer Johnson: With your company, yes, your company is still there and it's playing a supporting role, but your vision shouldn't position your customers, or really, it should position your customers as the ones creating the positive change with your products.
- 17:32Jennifer Johnson: Instead of look at how great we are as a company, the message becomes look how great you can be.
- 17:39Jennifer Johnson: We're changing the world.
- 17:40Jennifer Johnson: It becomes together, we're changing the world.
- 17:43Jennifer Johnson: That shift in perspective turns customers from passive consumers into active participants in your vision.
- 17:50Jennifer Johnson: Now I want to address the elephant in the room.
- 17:53Jennifer Johnson: What happened when your inspiring vision runs into messy reality?
- 17:58Jennifer Johnson: When market pressures, for example, force you to make decisions that don't perfectly align with your vision.
- 18:03Jennifer Johnson: And when you realize that some of your vision isn't realistic and it needs to evolve, first you need to recognize that this tension is normal.
- 18:10Jennifer Johnson: It's healthy.
- 18:11Jennifer Johnson: A vision that never creates any tension probably isn't ambitious enough, or, you know, inspiring for that matter.
- 18:18Jennifer Johnson: The goal isn't to eliminate these tensions, but to navigate it thoughtfully.
- 18:23Jennifer Johnson: Be transparent about your trade-offs.
- 18:25Jennifer Johnson: When you have to make decisions that seem to conflict with your vision, be honest about it with your team and your customers and explain that reasoning.
- 18:33Jennifer Johnson: Acknowledge the tension and share how you're working to minimize the compromise or the course correction in the future.
- 18:40Jennifer Johnson: That transparency actually builds trust rather than undermining it.
- 18:45Jennifer Johnson: People understand that business is complex and that perfect alignment's not always going to happen.
- 18:50Jennifer Johnson: What they can't tolerate is pretending that you're, you know, these compromises don't exist and hiding those things.
- 18:58Jennifer Johnson: And use the conflicts as learning opportunities.
- 19:01Jennifer Johnson: When reality challenges your vision, ask what it's teaching you.
- 19:05Jennifer Johnson: Maybe there's something that's more specific or more realistic that you need.
- 19:09Jennifer Johnson: Or maybe you just need to adjust your strategy or timeline.
- 19:13Jennifer Johnson: These conflicts, a lot of times, reveal blind spots or assumptions that need to be examined.
- 19:19Jennifer Johnson: They can make your vision stronger and more actionable instead of weaker.
- 19:22Jennifer Johnson: And then stay committed to the direction.
- 19:24Jennifer Johnson: Even when you think you can't perfectly execute your vision in every every decision that you make, stay committed to the goal and the general direction.
- 19:33Jennifer Johnson: Think of your vision as a true North Star.
- 19:36Jennifer Johnson: You might not be able to travel in a straight line towards it, but you can definitely use it to guide your overall trajectory.
- 19:42Jennifer Johnson: So when you get all of this right, when you create the vision that really inspires your team and resonates with your customers, something really magical happens.
- 19:51Jennifer Johnson: The vision starts to do the work for you that you could never thought of doing with marketing alone.
- 19:59Jennifer Johnson: Your team starts making better decisions without that supervision because they understand what you're trying to accomplish.
- 20:05Jennifer Johnson: Your customers become advocates who sell for you because they believe in what you represent.
- 20:11Jennifer Johnson: And your partners and vendors start bringing you opportunities that align with your vision because they actually understand what you care about.
- 20:19Jennifer Johnson: Most importantly, your vision becomes a source of resilience during difficult times.
- 20:23Jennifer Johnson: When you hit obstacles or setbacks, having a clear sense of purpose helps you persist through challenges that may otherwise send you off the train tracks.
- 20:34Jennifer Johnson: When you face difficult decisions, having a shared vision helps you maintain cohesion when the path forward isn't that obvious.
- 20:41Jennifer Johnson: Now, I've seen this play out in organizations across every single industry.
- 20:45Jennifer Johnson: And the companies that weather the storm best, that attract that top talent, that build lasting customer relationships and create that sustainable competitive advantage, they're almost always the ones with the visions that people really get behind and that people really believe in.
- 21:03Jennifer Johnson: So as we wrap up today's episode, I want to leave you with the challenge.
- 21:07Jennifer Johnson: Take a hard look at your current vision, mission, and purpose statement.
- 21:10Jennifer Johnson: Does it inspire you?
- 21:12Jennifer Johnson: Does it help you make decisions?
- 21:15Jennifer Johnson: Would your team members be able to explain how their work connects to it?
- 21:20Jennifer Johnson: And would your customers recognize it in your actions and not just your words?
- 21:25Jennifer Johnson: If the answer to any of these questions is no, my friends, you have an opportunity, not just to create a better marketing copy, but to align your organization around something that actually matters to the people you're trying to serve.
- 21:38Jennifer Johnson: Remember, a vision isn't about predicting the future.
- 21:42Jennifer Johnson: It's about creating the future that you want to see.
- 21:45Jennifer Johnson: It's not about perfection, it's about direction.
- 21:49Jennifer Johnson: It's not about having all the answers.
- 21:51Jennifer Johnson: It's about being clear on the questions that matter most to you.
- 21:56Jennifer Johnson: Your vision should be the thread that connects everything that you do, the story that gives meaning to the daily grind, and the North Star that keeps you oriented when the path gets really unclear.
- 22:07Jennifer Johnson: When you get it right, my friends, you don't just build a business, you build a movement.