What is a Visionary?
In the EOS world, there is a concept called “the Visionary,” which is someone within your business with big ideas who can see potential opportunities and manage strategic relationships.
The visionary is not the person who holds other people accountable and is not the leader, decider, or the person in charge of conflict resolution. Instead, this individual is the keeper of the vision for where the company is going and communicates it to the organization. Often they are the entrepreneur who started the company in the first place.
Interestingly enough, only approximately 50% of companies have someone filing a visionary role. But now, that begs the question: how do you create a vision if you do not have a Visionary? How do you create a personal vision if you are not a visionary person? The simple answer is you can, but it takes a lot of discipline and work and may suck the energy out of the people involved, because they may be more energized in accomplishing the execution of the plan or the company. If you want to build your company purposefully, you need someone who is a visionary.
And if you are a visionary, ensuring that you are delegating the actual running of your company to an “Integrator” role is essential. Integrators are good at execution, good at holding people accountable, and good at resolving issues.
Everyone needs a Vision
As I have been working with companies and individuals, there is a consistent topic throughout all my clients that we spend a lot of time discussing, and that is vision. It is essential for people to have a vision of where they want to go, both professionally, personally, and even corporately for a company.
Vision begets a purpose for why you or your company exists. It sets a larger objective or goal and can help you know if you are on the right path. If your vision gets created, it makes your decision-making almost evident, as that is where you want to get to, like putting it into your map app or GPS. Even if you make a wrong decision that might distract you from your vision/purpose, the ways to get back on course tend to be evident.
EOS Worldwide resource
I think the book Traction by Gino Wickman is a helpful resource. It is the foundation of EOS, and provides a good framework for companies looking to figure out how to simplify, delegate, predict, systemize, and structure their organizations. Part of this is going through the exercises to cast a vision, which can be done with the leadership team and a facilitator to help tease it out.
EOS is the desire to get the leadership working ON the company instead of working IN the company. I know that when there are so many deadlines and things to work on, it can be hard to pull out of the day-to-day tasks to actually take the time to look around and see where you are. Scheduling time to be strategic, whether you are a visionary or not, it is essential.
EOS Worldwide has also recently implemented EOS1 as an online software tool and can help execute EOS within your company. I am still playing with this software, which is free in beta right now, but will cost from $5-$12 a seat/month, depending on the size of the business. If you are interested in learning more about a facilitated implementation, please reach out, and let’s discuss.
Visionary resource
Another resource is a book called Vision Driven Leader by Michael Hyatt. Hyatt found himself at the head of the worst-performing publishing division in a publishing house. He took a weekend to create a vision plan for what he wanted to see out of his division and then set the intermediate goals to achieve the vision. The company was so impressed that they decided to do it for all the divisions and the company.
Activate your passion & optimize your performance with Tackship Consulting
Sometimes talking to someone about your ideas, your gut, and looking at where you are at can help you break through to a different level. In our next blog, we will discuss the focus and how maybe doing less can make you more effective. Tackship Consulting is here to help! Schedule a free consultation today.