Vision and Values
The following is a short description of the 1960’s movie, Spartacus with Kirk Douglas, that speaks to the reasons, power, compelling nature and necessity of a shared vision.
A moment in the movie goes like this……
Kirk Douglas plays a Roman gladiator slave that leads an uprising in 71 BC. They defeated the Roman legions twice but were finally conquered by the General Marcus Crassus, who threatens the entire army with crucifixion unless they turn over their leader. After a long pause, Kirk stands up and says “I’m Spartacus”, then another man stands up and says “I’m Spartacus” and one more man stands and says “No I’m Spartacus”. Bit by bit the entire army of salves are on their feet up and saying, ‘I’m Spartacus!”. This story demonstrates a deep truth, each man by standing up, chose death.
Their loyalty was not to Spartacus, the man, their loyalty was to a shared vision which Spartacus had inspired. With standing they said we are in alignment with the vision that Spartacus had in his heart; the idea they could be free men. This vision was so compelling that no man could bare to give it up and go back to slavery.
Personal vision leads to shared vision. Shared vision is not an idea but a force in people’s hearts. It may be inspired by an idea, but if it is compelling enough to acquire the support of more than one person it is no longer an abstraction. People begin to see it as if it exists. Few if any forces in human affairs are as powerful as shared vision. At it’s simplest level a shared vision is the answer to the question of “What do we want to create?” Just as much as personal visions are pictures that people carry in their heads and hearts, so to are shared visions pictures throughout an organization. Personal visions derive their power from an individuals deep caring for the vision. Shared visions derive their power from a common caring.
Shared vision is vital for the learning organization because it provides focus and energy for learning. While adaptive learning is possible without vision, generative learning only occurs while people are striving to accomplish something that matters deeply to them. Generative learning; expanding your ability to create, will seem abstract and meaningless until people become excited about some vision they truly want to accomplish. Look at AT&T, Apple, Ford, Honda. All were guided with visions of global success. Shared vision focused the energy of thousands of employees and created a common identity among enormously diverse people.
What we think and how we act is deeper territory than just the to do’s or intellectual insight in an organization. The deeper territory that usually guides people are their values and visions. Whether spoken or not, when people are aligned with their vision and values they are more focused, directed, fulfilled and compelled to engage in any act. To create a learning organization, and to have continuous growth, deeper territory of vision and values are necessary to clarify and pay attention to. A learning organization takes, time, patience and the perseverance of a group of people that happen for themselves and overall good of the enterprise.
There are no conditions in which human beings are more likely to articulate their personal vision than be around another who lives by their vision. This can truly inspire others. Do not proselytize will sooner or later it will backfire. Leading by example and being passionate wakes people up to what already resides inside of them.
Success or failure as a human being is not a matter of luck, circumstances, fate, or any of the other tiresome old clichés. Those are only excuses. The power to achieve the life of your dreams is in your hands—and the first step toward activating it is identifying the vision and the specific goals that will make your dreams real. After all, it’s much easier to get what you want out of life when you know where you’re going.(Inspired by Peter Senge)
Vision– the idea that makes passion come alive and be in consensus reality.
Mission – the how you are going to do it.
All individual, team and organizational vision/missions must have alignment to be successful
- Precedes great achievement
- Is about what your organization wants to become
- Gives shape, confidence, enthusiasm, growth and direction to the organization’s future
- Brings clarity or change to direction
- Stretches the organization’s capabilities, lets them know their value and image of itself
- Is something much bigger than themselves
- Keeps the organization on target even during difficult internal or external variables
- Co-created to be fulfilling and have buy-in
- Should have a single unifying theme with focus and an edge
- Supports the team in singing the same song
- Helps team members know the importance of each of their actions and how it positively relates to the bigger picture
- Guiding framework for goals
- Unleashes full potential of individuals and organizations
- Shared vision is not an idea but a force in people’s hearts. May be inspired by an idea, but if it is compelling enough to acquire the support of more than one person it is no longer an abstraction
- Without vision/mission – purposeless
- Without vision/mission – team is subject to personal agendas that work against one another
Vision/Mission Statements
The vision – is the image of what I/we want the organization to look like and where we want to go. A creative act inspired by passion that brings something from nothing.
The mission – is the how I am going to do it. Putting the vision into action. Mission statements act as invisible hand that guides your actions.
Organizational Samples
“We will produce outstanding financial returns by providing totally reliable, competitively superior, global, air-ground transportation of high-priority goods and documents that require rapid, time-certain delivery.” (Federal Express)
“Our mission is to earn the loyalty of Saturn owners and grow our family by developing and marketing U.S.-manufactured vehicles that are world leaders in quality, cost, and customer enthusiasm through the integration of people, technology, and business systems.” (Saturn)
Changing the Game – doing things differently as a result of seeing things differently ~Anonymous
Marsha Marsh Coaching, Inc is a consortium of resources for the corporate world, business partnerships, couples, families and individuals. We are Certified Professional Coaches trained in Co-Active Coaching and Relationship Systems Coaching™.
Over 15 years ago, in the infancy stages of Marsha becoming a coach, she developed a personal vision that is the foundation for everything she does. Little did she know how much these words were a part of who she was and it continues to be true for her today.
Marsha’s mission is to create a world that is safe and joyous by teaching others how to accept, express and love themselves.
With all the passion Marsha has, she could not sit still with just one-on-one coaching and wanted to make a difference in an arena that affects our entire culture. Today, with a big part of her work being in corporate America, she adds to her personal vision/mission statement:
At Marsha Marsh Coaching, Inc., we want to create teams that interact with high levels of trust, integrity and leadership while producing profitable outcomes by facilitating and educating executives and teams in having simple, honest, human conversation. The conversations that align strategic objectives, processes and behaviors to create a learning organization.
Values
- Who you are, hardwired
- Intrinsic to your being, an expression of who you are
- Immovable, most important
- Fulfillment
- When you are in alignment with your values your choices are clear
- A place to communicate from and receive from
- When you use values as your perspective, how you communicate will be very different
- Answers the question what is most important in this situation and most often a value will arise out of the question
- Will help you persist in the face of adversity
- Need drives you, value draws you, compelling
- Values will take you to what is possible instead of what always was
- Being in reaction will only give you what you have had in the past
What Values Provide Teams
- Hold people together. If team members don’t know what their values are and live them out – their chances of working as a unit and reaching their potential is very small
- Provides stability amongst diversity
- A place where commonality is met
- Sets a standard for team performance
- Have meaning only when they are further defined in terms how people behave.
- Help make difficult decisions – moral compass
- Should reflect the people on the team and their leader
- When values are aligned with behaviors – it boosts team energy, performance and effectiveness
- Provides a team with a self correcting monitor for the behavior or members
- Values provide positive feelings. Productivity without positivity will create burnout
Marsha’s personal and business values are core to all of her decisions and to all the coaches at Marsha Marsh Coaching.
Integrity
Simply said, being our word, doing what we say we are going to do.
Holding ourselves accountable.
Being Inspired/Being Inspirational
We step into all that we are, and can be with total naked honesty. Moreover, we are incredibly touched and frequently moved to tears watching others do the same.
Responsibility
We have an undying commitment to working towards being “Response-Able” as opposed to “Re Active” and to take ownership when we are being reactive.
Passion
Our passion inspires creation and vision. It is what drives us and compels us. Passion is the impetus and root of creation. Our actions from our passions make our visions come alive.
Synergy
To us, synergy is the valuing and blending of different ideas to create something altogether new. The total effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects. We live by the rule “Nobody gets to be wrong; there are only differences”. The impact of synergy feels electric to us!!
Personal Growth
We are committed to lifelong learning about ourselves and others. The greater our self awareness, the greater we can develop and grow into our unlimited potential as a human beings. The more we can see others, the more we can make a difference in their lives and in the world.
Leadership
We are leaders and we show our leadership by knowing our values, being accountable to them, and living them out in action. We boldly call others forth to uniquely live theirs. We see people as the powerful individuals that they are capable of becoming. We challenge and inspire them to really go there and be extraordinary.