Great Firms Have a Vision For

Transcription

1 Great Firms Have a Vision For the Future! What s Yours? Leon Janks

2 Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. Jack Welch Former CEO of G.E. 2

3 Our Objective ConvergenceCoaching, LLC Copyrighted Material Used With Permission Share our firm s visioning process to help you create a clear and motivating vision by: Understanding what a vision is and how it differs from your firm s mission and strategies Identify and overcome some of the barriers to developing a unified vision Explore the steps to developing and communicating your firm s vision

4 What Is A Vision? The concept of vision in business is the ability to foresee or have insight into the future A vision for your firm is your dream for the future where your firm will be usually 3 to 5 years from now Your vision should be: -Unified -A stretch - Detailed and measureable - The framework for your annual strategies and tactics 4

5 A Vision Is Not Mission Vision Strategiest Your firm s mission, which is the reason your firm exists and is usually about the difference you make for others Your mission rarely changes, while your vision will change as you get closer to realizing it and as market conditions dictate Your firm s strategies, which are the specific plans you deploy to reach a specific objective Catchy content for marketing in fact, it is rarely published outside of the organization and, when it is, it is usually general 5

6 Why Vision? At Green Hasson Janks, we envisioned our future so we can: Keep our eyes on the horizon while still focusing on the day-to- day realities of running the firm Bypass our competitors and lead in our chosen markets Ensure our ability to provide exciting careers and meaningful work for our team members long into the future Drive our own destiny, serving the clients we most want to serve and being the firm we are committed to being

7 Our Visioning Process

8 Vision Committee Included a diverse group! Included partners, younger up-and-comers and key administrative managers (at the exclusion of some partners) The group represented a cross-section of the firm s industries and services 8

9 Vision Steering Committee We appointed a Vision Steering Committee We have a Steering Committee of 4 partners During the Vision development process, the Steering Committee met outside of the Vision Committee to discuss challenges, preview documents, filter inputs and ease decisions The Steering Committee now holds us accountable for the Vision implementation - Working closely with Director of Marketing to ensure proper communication of the Vision 9

10 Our Visioning Process Launched a survey to collect input from a cross-section of the firm (April 2011) Summarized and reviewed the data Marketing undertook a detailed competitive analysis Zeroed in on 9 initiatives and drafted initiative exploration plans (IEPs) for each - Chose 3 primary industry niches - Began work on 6 service line IEPs Developed 4 operational mini plans Discussed and revised the 9 plans A 17-page Vision Plan summary document was drafted and approved by the partner group in our November 2011 meeting 10

11 Vision Statement Our Vision Plan includes a Vision Statement (typical of a Vision Plan) A Vision Statement is usually 2-3 sentences that describe what your firm will be like in five years time with enough specificity that you can tell if you reach it For example: At Firm ABC, we will be a multi-location, state-wide accounting and consulting firm delivering difference-making services to healthcare practitioners, notfor-profits and general contractors. Our team of talented and committed team members will be known for our progressive culture as evidenced by our being named a Top XX Firm To Work For in CITY. We will reach $209 million in revenue by 2016.

12 How We Use Our Vision Plan

13 "You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction." Alvin Toffler American Writer and Futurist 13

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15 Our Vision Drives Performance Integrates with the firm s strategic and tactical plans Clarifies performance, expectations goal setting, compensation measurements and other drivers Defines operational resources needed to support the niche and service line teams All of our decisions are being informed by our Vision 15

16 Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs. Vaclav Havel Former Czech President Nobel Peace Prize Nominee 16

17 Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. Warren Bennis Founder of The Leadership Institute at USC 17