Do you know where you are going? How to get from here to there

When Roger Bannister was trying to become the first athlete to break the four-minute mile, all the “experts” told him it was impossible. Some even suggested that he risked death by pushing his body beyond human limits. Of course, we now know that not only did Bannister not die, but the week after he broke the barrier, another runner followed in his footsteps, followed shortly by several more. Clearly, the sub-four-minute mile was not impossible; someone had to imagine doing it. When asked how he accomplished the feat, Bannister replied, “Physiologically impossible or not, I just saw myself doing it.” To this day, many Olympic athletes use this type of vision of success to achieve your goals. The difference in skill levels at higher levels is often not noticeable. What differs is the mindset, the clarity of vision on what winning looks like. Leaders and managers don’t often employ this approach in strategic planning, or even simple delegation today. Most of us run so fast that we don’t take the time to figure out if we want to win; we just run and hope we are on the right track, running the right race. But organizations are now beginning to understand what world-class athletes have known for a long time: If you can envision the destination and be clear on what it’s like to win, your chances of getting there increase dramatically.

painting the picture
One tool to paint a vivid picture of where your organization needs to go is destiny modeling. Designed to create powerful visions in the minds of each and every employee, Destiny Statements provide cohesion, direction and behavioral guidance. They tell people what you’re doing, what you are No doing, and what you will be doing when you get where you want to go. Some companies develop a general destination statement for the entire company. I find it more useful to develop a series of statements, or target points, for each critical area of ​​the organization. In fact, I often use these statements as a starting point when working with clients. Examples of destination declaration categories include:

• Key operational achievements (the big three or four).
• What the workplace culture will be like, including attitudes, beliefs, values ​​and principles of action.
• What skills, knowledge and capabilities will exist in the organization? in each business unit?
• What organizational structures will be established throughout the company and in each business unit?
• What work processes and metrics will be used?
• What tools, systems and technologies will be needed, both internally and externally?
• What products will be on the market? What products will be in development?
• Who will be our clients? How many will we have?
• Who will be our competitors? What kind of companies will we compete against?
• What will be our greatest competitive advantage? Our biggest threat?
• How will we be known?
• What will our brand stand for?

Remember, your goal as a leader or manager is to paint as vivid and rich a ‘picture’ of success or victory as possible. To create your company’s destination points, draw a vertical line down the center of a sheet of paper. On the left side, put all the categories listed above and any others that come to mind. On the right side, describe for each category what it will look like when you get where you want to go. In today’s fast-paced world, three years makes more sense. Recently, all my clients are doing year-long destination models and plans. The current exchange rate is so great that anything beyond that and you’re probably just wildly guessing what’s possible.

Validation of your destination  
Once you’ve identified your destination points, measure each one against the following criteria:

• Consistency.Is it consistent with the mission statement (why you exist)?
• Clarity.It’s easy to understand? Is it easy to know what is inside and what is outside? Does it tell you what you have to do (directionally)?
• Specific.Does it provide enough detail to start a measurement level? Does it paint a picture employees can relate to and a place they can imagine?
• Flexible.Is it flexible enough to accommodate evolving business needs?
• Pride.Does it make you proud to be part of the effort?
• Inspiration.Does it force you to want to go there?

Once you’re clear on your destination points, repeat the process (using the same categories) to define your current state. This will identify any gaps that need to be addressed and allow you to plan appropriate action steps and timelines. Always start with the final state and then compare with the current reality. When you work backwards from the final state, the probability of getting there increases exponentially.

Be clear about the language  
As you go through the process of creating your destinations, keep in mind that clarity of language is essential to ensure people see the same picture. People often use the same words to describe very different things, and if you’re not careful, you can end up with many different images instead of a unifying vision. For example, I once worked for a company that proudly described itself as “best in class.” Yet when employees were surveyed, more than half said they had no idea what that meant or how to work toward it. And the employees who thought they knew had widely differing opinions about what the phrase meant. As a result, “best in class” looked good on the boardroom wall, but meant nothing to most employees and served no purpose in guiding behavior or guiding people to the final destination.

This doesn’t mean you can’t use phrases like “best in class.” Just make sure you define them in a clear, objective, and measurable way so everyone knows exactly what they mean. To get the best of what your employees have to offer, the future of your organization must be more compelling than the past. Imagining your destination and describing it in vivid language will make it easier and much more likely for your organization to achieve its goals and break your own four-minute mile. Especially as businesses begin to recover and reboot for a different (and hopefully better) economy, it’s critical that you be clear about where you’re headed now, why you’ll continue to win, and what it will look like when you get there.