This is the third in a series of posts exploring the difference between mission and vision, leading up to our webinar presentation in March—3 DANGEROUS TRENDS FACING ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-PROFITS. . Today we’re talking about WHY vision statements, manipulation vs inspiration and setting expectations…
There were two stonemasons working on the exterior walls of a building in medieval Europe. A pilgrim approached the first stonemason asking him all sorts of questions about what they were doing. The first builder talked about the monotony of the job. There were significant challenges to hauling the stone, dressing it properly to make sure that the fit was sound and setting the stone in place. In addition, it was likely that he would die before the project was finished.
The same pilgrim approached the second stonemason, wondering how he could work at something that seemed so monotonous and labor-intensive. The second stonemason listened patiently to the pilgrim’s questions, but his replies were quite different. This second laborer talked about the privilege of being a part of such a noble endeavor. He envisioned the final structure as a magnificent cathedral, drawing multitudes of the poor faithful to worship and find solace in its shelter and beauty.
Manipulation or Inspiration
There are basically two ways to influence behavior—through manipulation and through inspiration. Defaulting to manipulation is much easier, and the truth is, it can be pretty effective. When we don’t know an organization’s WHY, we don’t know what to expect. Consequently, we have low expectations focused on the commodity stuff—price, features, quality and service.
What’s worse is when a WHY goes fuzzy. When an organization has lost sight of its WHY, it becomes much more difficult to maintain the growth, loyalty and inspiration that helped drive the original success. Manipulation rather than inspiration fast becomes the strategy of choice to motivate behavior. This is effective in the short term but comes at a high cost in the long term.
The better way to influence others, the way that creates trust and an environment for change for the greater good is to inspire. To inspire others, a strong leader needs to have a vision of something that doesn’t yet exist, something just beyond the horizon. When you start with WHY, those who believe what you believe are drawn to your organization for very personal reasons.
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” ~Henry Ford
Vision—Setting Expectations
An effective vision statement will capture the cause, purpose and shared beliefs of an organization—their WHY. It’s critical that this vision is congruent with the shared beliefs and values of the culture. Your association’s role in the process is to be crystal clear about what purpose, cause or belief you exist to champion, and to show how your products and services help advance that cause. Your leadership must be able to communicate that vision in a way the captures the heart of all your stakeholders, builds trust and invites participation.
We believe that there are 9 primary WHY motivators, and we each have one. Some examples of a WHY could be to create relationships based on trust or to make a difference.
Apple describes their WHY in this way, “(In) Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.” Notice that this statement says nothing about what they do, it’s about what they believe.
A clear sense of WHY sets expectations. Your Vision Statement should describe a state of being that your association aspires to, something that does not yet exist. It needs to appeal on an emotional level to stakeholders and potential supporters alike. It doesn’t describe WHAT you do, it describes WHY you do it, what you BELIEVE.
At Slice-Works we believe that success starts with WHY. What do you believe?