What’s Your Magic 18/24?

In some ways, the training wheels for executive goal setting were applied with the familiar childhood refrain…“what do you want to be when you grow up?”  Now, the business leader hears, “who will your company be in the next 18-24 months?”  Most companies have annual plans that link to performance management, are more tactical and incremental.  The 5 or 10 year vision doesn’t make much sense given today’s pace of change and everyone’s appetite for the immediate.

To take your company to its future, you need to know your destination and have the detailed and actionable plan to take you there. The 18/24 month vision – a point B to your current point A – is the critical question that has to be answered if you intend to improve or grow your company. It is just long enough to be compelling yet remain credible.  The 18/24 vision enables your tactical planning – a roadmap of projects and changes necessary to reach the end state. It must, however, explain the following to be executable:

• Clear & Specific:  Fuzzy phrases like “premier provider”, “best-in-class”, and “delighted customers,” are fluffy marketing terms with no precise meaning. Define them.
• Measureable: What are the associated revenue, profit, distribution points, customer sat ratings, and employee retention ratios? Define these to know when you hit the marks.
• Comprehensive: Yes, you have to know the financials…and understand customer profiles, product offerings, market share, operational qualities, performance benchmarks, key relationships and business culture…all of it.
• Compelling:  It is far easier to engage others when the vision is captivating rather than incremental.
• Precise: Is it 31Dec15 or 30Jun15?  What day of what month?
• Aligned: Efficient execution is usually obstructed by an unaligned leadership team – the fastest way to alignment is to have them help. We recommend the leaders and key employees brainstorm the 18/24 vision, along with the roadmap.  V2E typically facilitates both in a half-day workshop.

Why expect everyone to work in the dark without purpose?  You’ll find the 18/24 and roadmap are what your employees, partners, investors, and vendors need in order to commit and be productive… Set course and take your seat in the cockpit.  Get ready to lead the journey.