08/22/2017

How to Involve Your Team in Creating Vision and Strategy

Utilize the minds around the table when planning for the future

One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is thinking they are supposed to have all the answers, especially when it comes to vision. There is a natural desire to look like you are smart and know what you’re doing.

But sometimes the smartest thing you can do is to involve your team in creating vision and strategy and invite them to think together about the future. You don’t need to have it all figured out before you talk about it. In fact, it’s better if you don’t.

Steve Piersanti, President of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, a company that has continued to thrive year after year in an industry that is facing serious challenges and named Indie Publishing Company of the Year in 2015, says: "We involve our entire company—including all staff and our key outside stakeholders (customers, sales partners, shareholders, service providers, and so on)—in setting our strategic directions, articulating our vision and values, and other foundational decisions.  We do this through large and small participative meetings, surveys, online and in-person discussions, and other means.  This is a lot of work and takes longer but it results in better decisions, more buy-in, and better implementation and execution."

Please click here to read the entire blog post on Seapoint Center.