Building motivation is key to achieving your vision

This article was first published in LinkedIn Pulse

Building performance and capability within an organisation is a long-term undertaking that involves a large number of other moving components but, central to achieving your vision for your business is building motivation.

Achieving any commercial vision requires high levels of buy-in and participation from all members of your team, distilled down from the boardroom to the frontline. The two tenants of motivation and vision are also intrinsically linked and one cannot exist without the other.

Recognise the opportunity in change

A new or evolved vision represents a change and recognising the dynamics of that change will often involve a new approach. Our neurology reinforces our habits and so the acceptance of change doesn't always come naturally so the first step is to shift that mindset and cultivate a perception of change not as a threat but as a motivating factor at both an individual and team level.

A vision engagement programme

In most teams there will be at least one or two individuals reluctant to embrace change or not sold on the new vision. A vision engagement program is an opportunity to develop a company-wide understanding that change can be an opportunity to become the best that they can be both personally as individuals and collectively as an organisation.

A successful vision engagement program will guide the team a process whereby individuals 'map-across' to understand how best to fulfil their own personal drivers. This gives clarity and provides the necessary momentum required to actually make changes to what they do, and how they do it in order to realise the future that they actually want.

Identify what the vision actually means to each individual

Engaging each team member in an exercise to determine what the new vision means to them personally is a useful way of getting buy-in. This process encourages high levels of engagement and participation, helps to gauge readiness for change and identifies and defines the necessary behaviours to drive that change and achieve the new vision.

Strategic roadmap

To harness motivation and set a clear path to the vision, a strategic roadmap captures the 'what', 'how' & 'when' of the required changes. This map highlights the role each person plays in achieving the corporate vision and brings the organisation together as a motivated, engaged collective.

I recently worked through this process, coaching the management team to achieve buy-in for a new corporate vision. The managing director said, "We've really learned about what's important to us individually and collectively. We call this our 'essence'. I've never been clearer in my thinking that these aspects of our Vision are absolutely the right things that we need to be doing."

Contact us if you'd like to find out more about how we can help you build motivation to achieve your vision.

About the author - Stephen Manley is the Coaching Director at Spitfire, a consulting firm with a global reach across Europe, North America, Middle East & Africa. Stephen works with individuals, teams and organisations worldwide to achieve transformational change in thinking, behaviours and ultimately results. Get in touch to learn more LinkedIn