Every organization, big or small, has a vision statement, which leads the way forward for people in the organization. It is the guiding light for everyone working with the organization, it is what every organization is rooted in. Everything else is worked out, planned, assigned and executed in alignment with this vision statement. While this approach is perfect, there is a missing link somewhere, which causes people to lose the motivation and desire to work towards the organization’s vision. It is not some rare happening which happens only once in a while, but rather, a common everyday occurrence, which is eventually responsible not only for low performance indices of employees, but also increasingly high stress levels in them.
What is this missing link, the clue to the ever growing problem of stress, fatigue and lack of motivation in the corporate sector?
The missing link is something very germane to the vision itself. Before a vision can move the people working with an organization to be innovative, inspired and sacrificing, it should first become an experience in the leaders articulating the vision! Something really simple, yet apparently elusive. If the leaders themselves feel passionate, inspired, ready to make sacrifices and are constantly floating new ideas and creative processes, the people working with them will simply imbibe it from them and feel the same inspiration which is the fuel that runs the leaders.
Instantly, another question also arises. How would the leaders continue to remain inspired incessantly? The answer is again rooted in the vision itself. If the vision is in coherence with the the idea that people feel as them, it will automatically inspire them to act in alignment with it. No outside force will be needed. If someone’s passion lies in automotive engineering, working with automobiles can never tire him. An artist never gets tired of painting. When the vision of the work anyone wants to do is in alignment with their ideas about themselves, no other motivation is needed to make them sacrifice their food and sleep for it. All leaders radiate this quality, which speaks volumes of their commitment to their vision.
The idea can be anything. One person may think of himself as highly creative. Another may think they are very intelligent, while someone else may think they are high achievers. As long as each of their actions and decisions are in alignment with the idea they have about themselves, as long as their visions and passions are perfectly in sync, inspiration will naturally flow through them, and they will be an inspiration to everyone around them as well.
Any vision statement needs to have the insight into a perfect alignment with goals of the organization, and every individual or prospective individual working with the organization. Conversely, when people choose their line of work, and hence, organizations which are in tune with their passion, their productivity is always high, and stress levels really low. Stress is simply the by-product of the conflict between people’s desires and actions. When there is no conflict, there is no stress.
The best way to instil a vision compelling enough to inspire, stimulate innovation and sacrifice in others is to let the vision first do the same in the people articulating the vision. The first step is the most crucial. If that is taken without any conflict, everything and everyone else will simply fall in place, creating the space for unprecedented success and fulfillment to happen continuously.