Session 14 – SIMPLE Vision – Details

Action Steps

1. Write your Details.

2. Email your Details to michael@guidestonegroup.com

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Session Transcript

Welcome back to Guidestone University. We’re going to look at the final component, component number four, of creating vision for your work. We’re going to look at details today. So, we looked at Non-negotiables already, we looked at Purpose, and last session we looked at Huge Goals. Now, we’re going to look at Details.

Details is a specific, vibrant, and engaging description of what it’ll be like to achieve the Huge Goals. Details translates the vision and goals into words and pictures. In fact, the easiest way to think about it, the way that we like to think about it, it’s almost as if you’re writing a magazine article. You know, 20 years from now, writing a magazine article of what it looks like once you have accomplished your huge goals, once you’ve accomplished and you’re fulfilling, you’re hitting on all cylinders, you’re fulfilling your purpose. So, it’s almost as if you’re writing a magazine article. Some of you do a great job with writing; we’ve read some of the things that you write, and you do a great job with writing.

Others of you might think you’re not a great writer, but if you sit down and think about, “If somebody wrote a magazine article about me or about my work, or about the work that we want to do as an organization or a team, what would we want that article to say?”

Now here’s the principle: when you can see the future, or when you know what the future looks like, then you can work everyday toward that envisioned future. That’s what we want to help you to do especially in this session: to bring everything together that we’ve worked on so far. Then to say in 10 years or 20 years or 30 years, “If somebody writes an article about my work or about my organization or about my team, what does that article say?” Again, it translates the vision, the goals, the purpose, the Huge Goals from words into a picture that people can hold on to, they can see, they can believe. So, passion and emotion, and conviction are all essential parts of details.

You start thinking about, “What am I gonna write?” You can ask the following questions, we are going to give you 8 questions here, to create Details. This can be like 1 to 2-page, paragraph-structured document almost like whether it’s a blog post again or a magazine article, that type of thing when you get done with it. Okay, are you ready?

Number one: what will the company become? Number two: what does it look like for team members? Number three: How is it making clients or customers or donors, whatever type of organization you’re in, how is it making them more successful? How have they become more successful as a result of our work? Number four: so again, we’re sitting here in 10, 20, 30 years from now – what do we see? What would we love to see happen if money were no object? If there were no road blocks to what we could accomplish, what would we love to see happen? Number five: what does the organization as a whole look like? Number six: what does it feel like to my team? Number seven: what have we achieved? Number eight: we’ve talked about this a little bit already, if somebody writes a magazine article for a major business magazine or a major magazine or publication in your industry, what does it say?

Here’s a couple of things I want you to think about as you create details for the organization. Be sure that you consider key areas of your company, your product, your services. Here’s a few ideas, some of them may be of your leadership team: What does the leadership team look like that’s able to reach the twenty-nine thousand thirty-five feet, the summit of Mount Everest? What does that leadership team look like? What do they do? Where do they come from? What are they able to do?

Your team is going to need to be developed into this team or you’re going to need to find those types of team members. So, what does that look like? What does training look like? What does marketing look like? What do sales look like? What do communications look like? What do celebrations look like? Now, let me help you put it all together. We’ll put them on the screen here for you so you can engage with it if you’re watching the video.

We started off with non-negotiables, in fact, we’re going to use the Sony company. These are the elements of Sony’s vision in the 1950’s, and we wanted to use a company that most of us are familiar with so you can see what they’re able to accomplish. If you think about the 1950’s was just after World War II ended, remember, Japanese attacked us and the Japanese had some very specific goals and things that they wanted to accomplish and yet they were defeated and so they’re coming out of that. In the 1950’s, just a few years after World War II, this company, Sony, has this vision. I wanna share components of it.

So, their non-negotiables were:

• They wanted to elevate Japanese culture and national status.
• They wanted to be a pioneer: not to follow other people and to do the impossible.
• They wanted to encourage individual ability and creativity.

We see that in companies today; and it has become kind of a culture thing in many companies today, especially technology companies.

So, those were their core convictions or their non-negotiables back in the early 50’s.

Here was their Purpose: to experience the sheer joy of innovation and the application of technology for the benefit and pleasure of the general public. They had a clear purpose for what they wanted to accomplish both through innovation and then how do I apply technology for enjoyment of the general public. So, then, let’s look at the future for them. What was their one huge goal that they had? Here it is: to become the company that is most known for changing the worldwide poor-quality image of Japanese products. They wanted to take the responsibility for changing the poor-quality image of Japanese products, and they wanted to single-handedly change that themselves. So, that’s huge goals.

So when they got to details, here is some core components or some key components of the magazine-type article that could be written about them today that was written about them in some cases even 20, 30 years ago things that they had accomplished in a relatively short period of time as they sought to fulfill this huge vision that they had.

Details

We will create products that become pervasive around the world. We will be the first Japanese company to go into the U.S. market and distribute directly. We will succeed with innovations that U.S. companies have failed at.

Fifty years from now, our brand name will be as well-known as any in the world and will signify innovation and quality that rival the most innovative companies anywhere. “Made in Japan” will mean something as fine, not something shoddy. Something as high-quality not something as shoddy.

So, really cool exciting things, and this was written back in the 1950’s, and they wanted to accomplish this themselves and not just as an organization, but to change the perspective or the image of the Japanese products in general to the world, to the marketplace.

So, I’m going to read to you one more thing, a vivid description of what we wrote. You can read it in the book “Creating Your Business Vision”, the workbook that you have there, and I want to read this to you and provide it for you so you can get an idea from what this might look like.

Now, we’re in the process of revising this to make it even more descriptive; to write it even more like a magazine article, but this is the original one, so, I wanted you to see our original. I want you to be able to see it so it’ll help you as you write your details.

So here it is:

We are leading a team of coaches and counselors in the progressive development of a coaching and counseling retreat center that is associated with a coaching organization, a university, or a large corporate organization.

We are leading with integrity, passion, and compassion and making principle-based decisions which are leading us to accomplish more than we ever imagined possible. Our team knows that we believe in them deeply and we believe in their potential. We are coaching them to grow intentionally.

Consequently, the best and the brightest coaches and counselors are seeking to partner with our organization. Our coaching and counseling process and the retreat center have become the model for the coaching and counseling market. Our work is all about current and future leaders – counseling and coaching them to live with purpose, to lead with passion, to leave a legacy.

The retreat center surpasses every person’s imagination. It is a semi-rural, therapeutic oasis that is professional yet personal. Guests are able to enjoy spa services free of charge through donor scholarships. An executive chef prepares the finest cuisine. The retreat grounds are immaculate and peaceful in every season. The furniture and decor is current and welcoming: a housekeeping team gives attention to every detail throughout the center. Teams and couples, individuals and executives discover a relaxing place to stay providing relief and rest from pressures of life and work.

Therapeutic art experiences allow clients to process thoughts and feelings and behaviors and obtain clarity, walking trails that lead through wooded forests and serene outdoor recreation facilitates reflection and focus. Innovative marketing and communications materials are developed both for advertising the center and for coaching and counseling sessions, workshops, training and conferences. The center is safe, secure and serene.

Numerous conference experiences inspire clients to better understand their organizations and communities. Life planning and marriage enrichment, coach and counselor development  and team development opportunities are offered both at the retreat center and at client organizations.

We are writing blogs, producing a regular podcast and we’ve authored numerous books to provide continual inspiration and resources to clients and organizations. Our clients and team members are deeply grateful for the positive impact that our organization has made in their life and their work.

Our children are serving with us in the organization. They’re writing books and they’re producing resources that are allowing them to accumulate future savings so that they can help and serve other people. They are developing their business and personal leadership potential by managing organizational projects, resources, operations and finances.

Now again, it doesn’t read fully like a magazine article would so we have some work to do on it. But I wanted you to see that so you can see how easy it is for you to engage and understand that and how it adds so much more richness and fullness to our goals and our purpose. You can actually see some of those things.

Again, when you can see what the future looks like, when you can envision the future, then you can work everyday toward that envisioned future.

Action Steps

So here’s what we’re going to do: we’re gonna write out details: a one to two-page vivid description of what it might look like 10, 20, 30 years from now. Somebody write a magazine article about our work or about our organization. Alright?

Now here’s what I want you to do: shoot that to me in an email. I want to celebrate that with you, I want to walk with you on this path on this journey toward your vision so just as we’ve been able to turn around see many of this things accomplish over a short period of time, we want to celebrate that with you and we wanna walk that path with you. So, shoot it to me in an email when you get it done, we’ll be happy to take a look at it and help you at anytime along the way.[/text_block]