03/08/2021

Crafting Your Vivid Vision

Presented by: Dirk Beveridge, Founder, UnleashedWD

I was having dinner with the owner and CEO of a mid-market distributor. Over a glass of wine and a good meal we began talking about the rapid and transformational changes that are taking place around the world and in the business. We discussed the changing nature and declining market of the industry he serves. And in a moment of unusual transparency and vulnerability for any successful businessman, this CEO offered, “And I have no vision for what’s next—for where I need to take the company.”

This CEO, this entrepreneur, this leader of a multi-generational business, is not alone. The tyranny of the urgent ensnares many. Another CIO said, “We are wandering down this road, we’re not sure which road it is, and we don’t know where it will take us.”

Putting this into perspective, Sam Walton once said, “Capital isn’t scarce; vision is.”

Innovation requires vision. By any definition of innovation, it is about creating something new and that is valued. I have thought long and hard, researched, and talked to many wholesale distribution leaders about the definition of innovation, and specifically how it applies to distributors. 

Vision and innovation are intimately linked. Think about some of the most innovative companies on the planet. Their vision is the catalyst for unleashing the wave of innovation these companies are known for:

Apple. To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.

Google. To organize the world’s information.

Amazon. To be the earth’s most customer-centric company, and to build a place where people come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Dropbox. To tie everyone’s devices and services together to become the file system of the Internet.

Nike. Everybody can be an athlete.

Tesla. To prove that electric vehicles could be awesome.

Cleveland Clinic. To be the world’s leader in patient experience, clinical outcomes, research, and education.

Blinds.com. Improving people’s lives.

Without vision, there is no innovation. Vision is your quest, where you want to head next, and innovation is the way you arrive. Vision is that future destination that you believe is possible with committed effort.

As a CEO or department manager, you must have a defined future destination that your team can rally around.  Your team want’s to be led, and leadership begins with your vision.

During our UID session: Visionary Leadership: Crafting Your Vivid Vision, we will provide a framework for crafting and articulating your viivid vision.