I worked with an organization a few years ago that was having a lot of challenges. The leader had come in a few years before and had painted a vision that got everyone excited about the future of the organization. If the teams could achieve that vision, then it would change how the group was perceived in the organization and it would help them be more effective as a team. Sharing a vision is a great way to motivate people, help them see the plans that you have and paint the picture of where you want to go with the organization. It is what keeps everyone moving in the same direction during the challenging times.
Fast forward to a few years later when I came into work with them. Although everyone still bought into the vision and wanted to see it happen, there were some other issues that needed to be addressed. There was no accountability, no ownership and no trust. The group was dysfunctional in many ways. Projects were delayed with no consequences for missing dates. The credibility of the group was low, teams were not following processes, decisions were not being made and people on the team were thinking of leaving the organization.
It was very demotivating for the teams to see that although they had this great vision, nothing was changing and things weren’t getting accomplished. They had put their trust in this leader and now the lack of forward progress caused them to have doubts that these changes would ever occur. The vision has no chance of being a success if the team if the leader is not addressing issues and being authentic.
Leaders can’t just set the vision and walk away. When you see the team is unmotivated and disengaged, you need to understand why that is happening. Part of my role was to understand the facts of the situation and help to create an action plan. It is much better to know what the issues are and put the right actions in place to address them quickly. This helped the leader to start to rebuild the trust with the team and address the underlying issues that existed.
Setting the vision is just the first step of a long journey. Continuing to monitor progress and checking in with the teams will ensure that everyone is still on board and that the outcome will be a success.