3 Ways I used Vision to Increase Profitability
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to serve as the primary leader of a faith-based non-profit. The organization had been decreasing in annual contributions and was struggling financially. What I recognized early on was that no one had any idea where the organization was going. When I asked about vision, some of the leaders tried to describe the vision, while a few other leaders were frank with me and admitted that “we have no vision.” And that’s where I started, with the vision. Once the vision was clear, we started to see tangible evidence. In year one we increase financial contributions by 37%. In year two we saw a greater increase that resulted in 61%. So, how did I do it? Here are three ways I used vision to increase our finances.
Transparency
One of the great leadership lessons that have been quoted by many simply states that “the first job of a leader is to define reality.” This was true in my experience as the primary leader of this organization. One of the ways I was able to define reality was by clearly outlining to our leadership and stakeholders how our organization operates and where the funds go. This helped educate and reveal some of the pitfalls we had succumbed to and why our contributions were consistently declining.
Purpose
Once it was clear where our organization was currently, and how it was supposed to operate, I led our team through what I call the “purpose process.” This process helped to identify why we existed and outlined what we desired to accomplish moving forward. I conducted a weekend retreat with my leaders and we discussed what impact our work could have on the community we were in, what resources do we possess that we have not tapped into and how we desired to be remembered 15 years later. After solidifying our vision, we educated our external stakeholders on where we were going as an organization and what impact we were planning to make in the community. We outlined with detail how their contributions will accomplish the vision and how they could achieve purpose within themselves through their financial support. In short, they bought in quickly.
Celebration
One of the challenges organizations have once the vision is set is keeping the vision before the workforce and customers. I attempted to keep the vision before my team and organization by creating monthly meetings that focused on the progress we made toward accomplishing our vision. These meetings were not sit downs where everyone listened to Eliot talk, instead we utilized these meetings to hear stories of how we are making impact and captured the emotions that motivated us to reach our goals. There were two benefits I saw from these meetings. Number one, we took the time to celebrate the progress and the people directly connected to modeling or accomplishing the vision. We did not just celebrate those who were within the organization, we also celebrated those who were contributing to the organization and modeling what we desire to accomplish as an organization. We did this by sending thank you letters and gifts such as mugs and etc. Secondly, we increased the morale of the organization because our workforce felt like they had a purpose for what they were doing and felt valued. These three approaches around vision are directly attributed to our financial increases. Simon Sinek once stated, “people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
Recap: Three Ways I used Vision to Increase Profitability
Transparency
Purpose
Celebration
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