Setting the Course Onward and Forward with Strategic Vision

Where there is no vision, people perish. This proverb seeks to help us understand that people find life not in what is occurring in the present but instead are reinvigorated by where the present can take them. This truth also applies to business. If we want our companies to flourish and grow beyond their current state, we must plant them with the intent to see their roots spread. Without giving our business a place to go, stagnation and complacency threaten to cut our enterprise short. This is why we must be strategic visionaries in our entrepreneurial journey.

Strategic visionaries are able to be forward-looking, allowing thoughts and even sustainable dreams to define and outline an organization's long-term goals and aspirations. Honing in on this skill is a vital part of strategic planning and decision-making. It informs our businesses' strategic vision statements and helps to guide our organizations' future direction.

A strategic vision statement is the marriage, the connection point, between our goals and the plans we seek to implement to build our businesses to their greatest potential. When we align our goals and execution plans, we guarantee that our actions and decisions will take us to where we actually want to go. It informs our yeses. It gives weight to our nos. It defines our priorities. It provides legs to our dreams. It offers a reason to hope forward. Our strategic vision even helps to measure our speed. Without the blending of our goals and execution plans, we lack clarity regarding whether we're going the right speed along the right path.

Formulating your strategic vision is an empowering process. It's about asking the right questions and being honest with yourself. Don't shy away from big-picture thinking, as your strategic vision will become your road map, guiding you to and through uncharted waters.

Here are seven questions to tackle to help craft your strategic vision:

1. Where do I want my business to go, and what do I want it to look like in X timeframe?
2. What goal(s) will lead my business to this determined destination?
3. What must be true for my business to hit these goals(s)?
4. What do I need to do differently to accomplish these goal(s)?
5. What needs to stay the same for my business to achieve these goal(s)?
6. Are these the right goal(s) for my business?
7. Are these goal(s) complete?

Answering these questions will provide a template for formulating a solid strategic vision for your organization. Allow me to share a personal example. When I pivoted from a single-person coaching practice to a group, I realized after a year of entrepreneurship that to really grow and scale the way I desired, I needed support. I required a deeper bench of provider expertise and service offerings. I delved into market research to identify gaps I could fill. From there, I matched that with my philosophy, based solely on my core belief: Our future leadership teams can and should be more representative of our communities.This strategy work provided the foundation for scalable growth in the new group. It gave me the framework necessary to make decisions that aligned with my goals, and as a result, I quickly saw my gross revenue double.

Most skip past strategic planning when planning a transition from corporate to entrepreneurship, but this is one of the most critical steps in the process. It informs all future decisions. Once set in place, note that your strategic vision can not be treated as a "set it and forget it" resource. It is essential to review this statement regularly. Annually, and if time allows, even quarterly, assess that your road map still holds true. Conducting a review permits you the ability to pivot when and where necessary. The coaching industry is ever-evolving, and you want to ensure that your vision evolves with the field, giving it a promise for tomorrow. 

Give your business life by charting a vision into its destiny. Ready to cast vision but rather not do it alone? Join our Corporate to Coach program launching in January 2025!