We’re in the middle of a series where we’re taking a deeper dive into each of the things that only you, as a CEO, can do!
Your Organization Struggles with High Turnover and Low Engagement
Is your company experiencing high employee turnover and low engagement? These are clear indicators that something is amiss in your organizational culture and leadership approach. Marginal growth often follows when employees don’t understand or aren’t committed to the company’s vision.
Do you want 58% faster growth, 32% more profitability, retain customers at a 2.2 to 1 ratio, and achieve 16x employee engagement compared to your competitors? (LSA Global) If so, you need to focus on Vision Clarity. Vision Clarity is the ability of the CEO to clearly articulate and communicate the company’s purpose, vision, values, goals, and strategic direction. This clarity enables employees, investors, the board, and other stakeholders to understand and align with the CEO’s vision, ultimately driving the company toward success.
One of the challenges we’ve seen with middle-market companies is that very few have a great vision. We see a lot of “We will be the premier this” or “the number one that…” But to truly define your vision, you have to go to the future, to see the future to create something concrete and compelling. This shouldn’t be done by sitting around a conference room looking at your financials, trying to decide with your Senior Leadership Team / First Team how much to grow next year. That’s not Vision Clarity. Yet, if I had a dollar for every time we saw this happen… well, that’s a future blog ☺️
One great example is Netflix. Imagine if Reed Hastings, former CEO of Netflix, had said, “We want to be the #1 DVD rental company in America.” At the time, that wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows. However, we all know Netflix would have ended up like Blockbuster. Instead, Hastings dreamed 20 years ahead and created this vision: “To be a global entertainment distribution company that provides a unique channel for film producers and studios.”
Once you achieve true Vision Clarity, the hardest thing for a CEO is to constantly reinforce your purpose, values, vision, goals, and strategic direction to your First Team and throughout the organization. Remember, your Senior Leadership Team / First Team is the catalyst for ALL change. They also have to communicate the vision, values, goals and strategic direction to the organization. Candidly, this is a huge, missed opportunity for most organizations. This is why 78% of employees feel that their leaders do NOT have a clear direction for the organization (Gallup). That is alarming! The Senior Leadership Team / First Team and their Leaders underneath them, are all responsible for communicating this.
Lastly, so many companies have company values, however, they don’t live them every day in the organization. This is another missed opportunity in the organization. If you are not using your purpose and values to hire, promote and/or fire people, this causes what I call the Silent Killer… misalignment.
Vision Clarity is critical to the success of a CEO and is the third thing that only you, the CEO, can do!