"Creating A Vision And Mission - A Co-Created And Co-Shared Experience" by Terri Levine
How many times over the course of a 2-3 year period, does a company spend time, energy, and resources creating or re-creating a vision or mission? Most companies do this activity over and over again because the CEO can’t move the organization to get behind the vision. The employees don’t have a desire to achieve the vision, and it is meaningless to them.
The VM Vacuum process (Vision-Mission Vacuum) that has been brought into organizations is making a dramatic difference. It works like a vacuum, where it sweeps the entire organization and attracts energy to itself. The process produces employees who are committed to the CEO’s vision and instills passion and the desire to achieve the vision and mission of the company.
The VM Vacuum process works because all the employees are involved in co-creating the vision and are all a key and equal part of the visioning process. When a vision is co-created in this way, it becomes co-shared and people believe in it… it contains a part of them, so naturally, it becomes believable, realistic and do-able.
Here is the structure of the process:
Every employee, regardless of job type, hours worked, or job title, is invited to participate in a visioning meeting with key managers.
Key managers act as facilitators with no vision/mission to sell anyone, but simply to gather people and listen to their thoughts.
Facilitated discussions are held to invite every employee to respond to questions about what currently is going well or right in the company, why those things are working, and then daydream a description of how things could be perfect. Once there is a clear idea of “perfect”, the facilitator asks the group to pretend it is five years from now, three years from now, and one year from now, and to describe a perfect work day in each year – complete with how it feels, sounds, looks, tastes, smells, etc. Then the group identifies the things right now that aren’t quite right yet within the organization and identifies resources (like time, money, training, space, etc) that could make things more right.
All facilitated discussions result in a detailed summary of the conversations above.
Key managers bring their facilitated discussion results to the CEO, and the CEO, with no vision/mission to sell, facilitates the exact same process with the managers as was conducted with the employees.
All facilitated discussions, including the ones with the managers, are now transcribed and put into one working document.
Groups of employees and managers take the document and find areas of similarity and create one large document.
That document becomes the vision/mission of the organization.
Organizations that follow these steps and do each thoroughly, believing each employee has value to contribute to this process, now have a vision/mission that the employees helped to formulate, and therefore feel a part of. When employees feel their viewpoints were both heard and considered and that these are now a piece of the company, their morale goes up, they become more productive, and they tend to stay much longer in their employment. What they do, how they do it, and why they do it is now meaningful for them. After all, they helped develop the what, how, and why. It gives them pride and a true sense of belonging and value within the organization.
Considering the benefits to everyone, isn’t this process one that is worth the time?
Terri Levine is a successful business coach and was a speaker at Joe Vitale's Spiritual Marketing Super Summit.
Terri Levine, MCC, PCC, MS, CCC-SLP, made the transition from senior executive to become one of the top professional coaches in the industry, founded a leading coach training school, and has worked with clients from every walk of life.
Terri is the founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., and The Coaching Institute - The Professional’s Coach Training Program. The Coaching Institute is an internationally recognized program that provides training to individuals and organizations that want to learn coaching skills and/or become Certified Comprehensive Coaches.
Terri’s coaching clients call her the “wisdom wizard”. Her background as a corporate executive paired with her marketing expertise is extraordinary. She has compiled an impressive track record of growing million dollar businesses.
She specializes in using Comprehensive Coaching principles to create extraordinary growth for her clients’ lives and businesses, and has been coaching professionals and companies, and training others to use coaching skills every day to experience much greater business, financial and personal success, discovering better ways to grow profitable businesses, restore balance in life, and bring greater joy to each day. She synthesizes the knowledge and wisdom of every leading organizational development guru, philosophy and process to create a results-oriented approach.
Terri, a popular keynote and motivational speaker, is also a successful author. Her much acclaimed book, “Work Yourself Happy,” (which hit #3 on the Amazon best-seller list early in 2002) is an example of her own coaching work and her clients’ success stories.
Her second book, “Coaching for an Extraordinary Life,” published in 2001, brings the tools of the coaching industry to ordinary people, so that all may enjoy a better quality life.
In her third book, “Create Your Ideal Body”, Terri shares her strategies and techniques which enabled 250 people to lose weight without dieting, struggle, deprivation or the use of gizmos, gadgets, pills, potions or rigid exercise routines.
Her last book, “Stop Managing, Start Coaching!” reached #6 on Amazon and deals with morale in the workplace. She also puts out weekly e-mail newsletters to thousands of subscribers worldwide. Terri is a nationally recognized authority on creating greater business and personal success and she is featured regularly in the media and on Channel 10 NBC Philadelphia News as a coaching expert.
Terri lives in Pennsylvania, and when she isn’t coaching, training, speaking, or writing, she loves to race Formula Dodge cars!
Terri is a member of the International Coach Federation, the Philadelphia Area Coaches Alliance, The American Society of Training and Development, and the National Women Business Owners.
If you are interested in becoming a coach, hiring a coach, or having Terri address your organization, call toll-free 1-877-401-6165 or email info@ComprehensiveCoachingU.com.
Visit her on the website: http://www.TerriLevine.com