Use your vision statement as a daily guide to keep on track towards your company’s long-term goals
Your clean energy organization has taken the time to define a vision. Congratulations! Now what?
If you haven’t yet developed a vision, read more about the process here or pick up a copy of my new Powerful Branding Guidebook.
For anyone who has spent any time in the corporate world, you’ve likely experienced a company with a vision statement that gets trotted out during an annual meeting and maybe appears on the website. But day to day, the vision statement has zero impact. It’s a box that’s been checked instead of a living, breathing action statement.
Vision statements that live in drawers are about as useful as the dust that collects on them. A vision should be known by the staff, used in daily decision-making, and act as a guide.
How does a company do that?
Explain the context
Have you ever explained to your organization how your arrived at this particular vision statement? If not, now’s the time to do so.
Think of it as an internal relaunch. Talk about how it resonates with the executive team. Give examples of times you’ve seen the vision in action within the firm. Take the time to explain how you arrived at the vision.
Invite participation
Ask the question: how does each employee see their jobs fitting into helping the organization move toward their vision?
Present this question in a positive light – e.g. we see how your jobs fit into this bigger picture, now we’d like you to think about how you see your job fitting into this vision – to avoid the impression that their job might be threatened by this new vision. Relating the vision to their own jobs helps with mental buy-in.
Implement evaluation questions
Put your vision into everyday use by developing a short set of questions that are asked in EVERY decision your company makes. Yes, every decision.
There is no one path to developing these questions. It will require discussion and to keep the intent of your vision in mind. However, in order to integrate your new questions and ultimately your vision into everyday work life, keep it simple. What are one or two questions your organization can ask? Avoid longer sets of questions, rubrics, decision trees, etc. Keeping it simple will keep them in use.
What these questions might look like can best be shown by example:
Company A’s vision states: Company A is building a world where every person has access to affordable, clean energy. Company A is a PV module manufacturer. Right now, their path to realizing that vision is to build solar panels.
To integrate their vision into the company, they have developed two questions to evaluate choices in line with reaching their vision:
- Is this the best balance between cost-effective and sustainable? Or is there better?
- Does this open access or limit access?
Every employee applies these questions to the large and the small, to internal and external decisions. Company A might ask these questions when looking at materials like their choice of module frame. Changing module frames would be a huge decision. But what if there were a more cost-effective, sustainable solution that would allow the module manufacturer to ramp up production? Guided by their vision and criteria questions, even though it might be difficult at first, they change module frames to align with their vision.
What about internal company decisions? Company A might also be evaluating a new health benefit like expanding paid family leave. For the company, the choice to expand this benefit might initially be less cost-effective overall, yet it opens access. Ultimately, they choose to move forward with the benefit even though the decision does not meet both criteria.
Evaluation using criteria questions is a practice, not a hard and fast line in the sand. It’s about making conscious, thoughtful decisions. Company A made decisions with the knowledge they’re working towards their vision, but it’s not a straight line.
Company B’s vision states: Company B is striving for the day when every piece of our energy system has a net positive impact on our environment.
Their evaluative questions might be:
- Can we measure the carbon footprint of this decision?
- Is this regenerative or extractive?
Every company will arrive at a unique vision and set of criteria.
Initially, your organization’s goal will be to integrate criteria questions into each employee’s decision-making process, from choosing paper at the office supply store to service/product offerings to charitable donations. Answers may not always show decisions “fit” the criteria, but will develop a habit of asking the questions.
Once the habit is established, to realize your company vision your goal becomes answering “yes” to your criteria more often than not. And “no” is with full understanding. It won’t be perfect. That’s ok. Eventually, working towards your company vision will become ingrained into your organization’s culture.
Like yoga, using your vision as a guide is a practice. You may not “get it right” for a while. Eventually the company vision will work its way into company culture.
It is at this point that your vision becomes a key tenet of your brand identity. It is the moment people point to the company and say, “they’re authentic.” Words and brand promise match vision and action.