Is Your Vision Statement Outdated?

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: February 23, 2017

I’ve noticed an alarming trend in the past couple years while assisting clients in formulating their strategy… There is an increasing desire to avoid “touching” the Vision and Mission statement during a strategy session, in favor of focusing on key objectives to move the business forward.

When I’ve asked why, the answer I receive typically falls into the “time and money” category. You know the one. “We don’t have the time or money to invest in re-formulating our vision.”

That’s fine (well, actually it’s not), but we should remember something. Our vision, for ourselves or our business, is what we define as a desirable future state. It’s where we want to be in the next twenty-four to forty-eight months. It’s something that reignites our passion and drive for our business.

Sure it takes time to come up with a vision that is worth getting out of bed for, and time is money. But who in the world wants to pursue a vision, the same vision in fact, for over a decade? 

Hasn’t the world (and most things in it) changed? 

Don’t customers expect something different than they did just a decade ago?

 Aren’t employees becoming more distracted and needing something that fuels their passion?

I recommend to all my clients that their vision statement is re-visited in its entirety at least every 24 months, using the following questions: 

  1. Why are we here? Who do we serve? What’s the value we offer?
  1. Where do we need to be in the next twenty-four to forty-eight months to remain relevant to our market and why?
  1. What do customers (new and existing) need from us in the next forty-eight months to support their growth?
  1. What purpose is so compelling it would make our employees jump out of bed in the morning?
  1. What new products or services will define our business within the next five years?

With the compiled responses from these questions, you will have the necessary ingredients to create a compelling vision… Just a little polish to make it memorable, and you’ll be set.

Don’t let your vision of your desired future become blurry. Your vision is more important than any other aspect of your strategy, as it is the beacon that shines to guide you and the organization to the future you so desire.

If that’s not compelling enough, then you can continue to beat objectives to death. If it were me, however, I’d want to make sure I was focusing my team’s time and effort on the right objectives, which ties directly back to having a relevant and powerful vision.

[Tweet “Our vision, for ourselves or our business, is what we define as a desirable future state.”]

© Shawn Casemore 2017. All rights reserved.

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How A Personal Brand Supports Business Growth

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: November 11, 2016

In this week’s episode of Growth Inspired, I have the privilege of interviewing my long-time colleague, Marketing and Branding expert Dorie Clark. Dorie is most well known for her books Stand Out and Reinventing You, and frequently speaks at Harvard. In this episode, Dorie explains why entrepreneurs, executives and business owners need to focus not only on building and managing their organization’s brand, but also their personal brand. She shares tips on how to create and nurture a personal brand, and how to use your brand to drive and sustain perpetual growth.

Enjoy the episode, and send me an email with examples of how your brand has supported growth in your business. I’d love to hear from you: shawn@casemoreandco.com.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • Learn more about Dorie, her background and her work
  • Why everyone needs a personal brand, even if you work within a company
  • Why you don’t want to tie your personal brand too closely to the brand of your company
  • Dorie’s ‘secret sauce’ to growing a business (it’s not what many would say!)
  • How to make people want to seek you out – show people rather than tell
  • Why Dorie is a huge fan of prioritization, and how it helps you grow your business

Interested in learning how to build your brand as a leader? Pick up Dorie’s FREE 42-page Self-Assessment Workbook found at her website: dorieclark.com

[Tweet “‘A personal brand gives you career insurance.’ ~ Dorie Clark”]

© Shawn Casemore 2016. All rights reserved.

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Take Responsibility For Your Vision

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: November 10, 2016

I was once catching a flight out of Winnipeg and I met Gavriella. At the age of twenty-two Gavriella emigrated from Israel to Canada in search of freedom and the opportunity to live a life that she perceived impossible if she remained in Israel. Our paths crossed when Gavriella, working at a kiosk in the airport lounge selling credit cards, asked if I was interested in upgrading to a travel points card. We laughed once she realized that I was already a predominant client of the bank she represented.

I’ve always had respect for those practicing “direct sales” as success requires a high degree of confidence and tenacity, combined with a strong sense of self worth. If you can’t find opportunities in rejection, you can never be successful in direct sales

During our brief discussion I learned that Gavriella had emigrated from Israel to Toronto about two years ago, relocating to Winnipeg in the past month to meet up with her parents who had just recently emigrated.

Reflecting on our discussions during my return flight to Toronto, I realized that by the young age of twenty-five, Gavriella had already left her family and friends to immigrate to a new country, and after perceivably becoming comfortable in Toronto, had once again packed her bags and relocated to a new province, taking on employment in perceivably one of the most challenging careers in existence.

At a very young age, Gavriella was not only clear on a vision for her life, but she had proven through her actions that she had the courage and confidence to take significant steps towards its attainment. In essence she had done more by the age of twenty-five to achieve her goals then most ever accomplish in a lifetime.

Are you clear on the vision for your life; for your career; or for your business?

[Tweet “What are the perceived challenges or obstacles that stand between you and your vision?”]

What is stopping you from overcoming those obstacles?

If it’s courage you seek, take a page from Gavriella’s book. Courage and confidence grow as we prove to ourselves what we are capable of achieving. What are you doing to achieve your vision?

© Shawn Casemore 2014. All rights reserved.

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Why a Sticky Strategy Trumps a Vivid Vision

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: October 27, 2016

I was once speaking with the CEO of a Distribution company who was amidst their annual vivid vision session, an annual event in which the entire company contributed to forming what was to be the future vision for the company. Although there were definitely some strong points to her approach, the methodology was weak as it was isolated (involved only employees) and didn’t address the fundamental questions that every strategy needs to address namely, where, what and how.

Having a vision that is vivid (both clear and compelling) is great, but to put it bluntly too much “vivid” can result in too little “reality.”

I’m not trying to sound like a doubting Thomas here, but we already know that most strategies fail to be achieved as a result of ineffective or unrealistic actions. Shouldn’t we instead worry less about how vivid the vision is and instead focus our energy on creating a sound plan to get there?

I know, I know, it’s not near as sexy to discuss action plans, but wouldn’t you agree that this is where the rubber hits the road? I mean if it were me I’d rather achieve a blurry vision then miss a vivid one any day.

[Tweet “Most strategies fail to be achieved as a result of ineffective or unrealistic actions.”]

Fortunately the solution is quite simple. We need to create a strategy that is compelling and engages multiple stakeholder groups, placing the predominance of our energy into formulating the plans rather than the vision.

There are three key ingredients to my (not so) secret formula that my clients apply in order to formulate a vision that is powerful yet can also quickly be achieved:

  1. Interview customers: Where is their business going? What is their vision and how can you become a part of it?
  2. Interview suppliers: Where is the market heading? What new innovations are on the horizon and how can they help you?
  3. Interview employees: Where should the business improve? What needs to be done to introduce improvements and how should we go about doing so?

Notice in these questions the transition from where to what to how becomes very clear. This connects the vision to the objectives and in turn to the actions.

If you are about to create a vivid vision or a strategy of some sort, try opening up the stakeholders who contribute, using the transition questions above and you’ll find a much more relevant and achievable future.

As always if you’d like to discuss how these questions apply to your business or team you can email me at shawn@casemoreandco.com.

© Shawn Casemore 2015. All rights reserved.

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Transparency; A Strategic Competitive Advantage

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: October 20, 2016

I once delivered a workshop on transparency to a small group of companies. The discussions generated during the workshop centered around the increased demand for transparency in several key areas:

  • Product/Service origin (labor practices)
  • Environmental Sustainability (eco-friendly products and practices)
  • Product or service origin (community support)
  • Pricing transparency (understanding cost drivers and opportunities for cost reduction)

Here are five key points relative to becoming more transparent while maintaining a competitive advantage.

1. Engage in dialogue with customers to understand needs.

2. Have customers sign confidentiality agreements as part of the information sharing process.

3. Refrain from providing information on proprietary processes.

4. Create your own transparency model/form and introduce to customers.

5. Be willing to accept and defend a fair profit margin (company, industry, market place).

[Tweet “Taking the lead on becoming transparent will differentiate you from your competitors”]

The world is transparent, and will continue to be so. Taking the lead on becoming transparent in the eyes of your customer in any or all of these key areas will differentiate you from your competitors, and provide a significant competitive advantage.

© Shawn Casemore 2011. All rights reserved

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Have You Learned from Volkswagen’s Mistake?

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: October 13, 2016

Several years ago I purchased a Volkswagen Passat. It was my first Volkswagen, and although I’ve moved onto a different car, I’ve continued to admire VW’s ability to rapidly grow their brand and sales.

I was in disbelief when I first heard the news of VW’s misstep (to put it lightly), however, upon reflection it should come as no surprise that their rapid growth was not built on solid ground.

Consider for a moment that when it comes to cars (a commodity) there is some pretty heavy competition in the market, and all of the players are offering the same product. One might argue that the only possible outlier is Tesla.

My point is not about brand loyalty, nor to make an example of Volkswagen, but to drive home the fact that in order to dominate a market, the only real solution is to enter with something that is uniquely different – like Tesla, Apple’s iPod in conjunction with iTunes and Facebook. In these instances there have been few companies that have been able to challenge Tesla, Apple or Facebook in their respective niche.

If you want to do something big in an existing market, you’ve got to be creative and bring about products and solutions that others have yet to realize or invest in. This isn’t a matter of improving on what already exists, but instead making something that doesn’t exist.

[Tweet “If you want to do something big in an existing market, you’ve got to be creative.”]

Fortunately, this isn’t as difficult as it might seem IF you consider how to initiate creativity in your organization. You see, some of the most successful new products of our times haven’t come from just one person, but from a collective group with a single vision and complimentary skills. Is it possible that you have these ingredients within the four walls of your business today?

The answer is absolutely!

With this in mind, consider the following questions as it pertains to your business today:

1. How are you enticing your employees to be creative, bringing the most valuable ideas forward to you and those who can act on them?

2. What methods do you have in place today that will nurture a creative environment with your employees? Put another way, what’s in it for them to bring ideas forward?

3. What is your track record for acting on employee ideas to make your products or services better? How might you improve?

To dominate your market, you must nurture an environment of creativity. Start here and build a product or service that your customers truly value.

In my book from McGraw Hill, entitled Operational Empowerment, I discuss exactly how you can increase creativity in your organization. You can grab a copy by clicking here.

© Shawn Casemore 2015. All rights reserved.

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Great Leaders Ask More Questions

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: October 12, 2016

Let’s talk about leadership.

More specifically, the value of listening more often and asking more questions.

I’ve met with a lot of leaders in my travels for my job, and what I’ve found of leaders – at any level – is that the ones who are most effective tend to talk less.

How exactly does that work?

Take a couple minutes to watch this video and learn the answer.

You can listen below…

[Tweet “Those leaders, at any level, who are most effective tend to speak LESS.”]

© Shawn Casemore 2016. All rights reserved.

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The ONE THING To Differentiate Your Business

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: October 5, 2016

Now, if you are sole proprietor (it’s only you and your business) this may not exactly be as relevant – but you may pick up a few things.

However, if you are a bricks and mortar, in retail, or you are a larger organization (your business is built on structure, capital, systems and procedures, people – a bunch of things coming together to make it ‘hum’) then you need to hear this

Time and time again, there is one thing I have found that differentiates a good business from a great business.

Or, put another way, there is one thing I have found that differentiates a growing company from a company that is not growing.

Can you guess what it is?

Take a couple minutes to watch this video and learn the answer.

You can listen below…

[Tweet “There is ONE THING I have found that differentiates a good business from a GREAT business…”]

© Shawn Casemore 2016. All rights reserved.

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How to Extinguish a Disgruntled Leader

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: October 3, 2016

With winter in Ontario only a few short months away, I’m reminded of receiving my license. It was a blustery Saturday when the Young Drivers instructor was coaching me through skid maneuvering. We were in the parking lot of a local grocery store and trying (that’s right, on purpose) to get the car to skid out of control.  The maneuver wasn’t that difficult, just speed towards a snow bank and then turn sharply and hit the gas. BOOM – instant skid.

What was interesting about the training was how to get out of a skid. I can still remember when I made it into my first skid. I nervously grasped the wheel and shouted out to my instructor, “now what?!”

She replied, “Turn in the direction of the skid.”

 What??!

It would seem that by turning into the skid you gain control of the vehicle again. Counter-intuitive to what you might think.

This philosophy came to mind recently during the formulation of a strategy with a large board for a publicly traded company. We had one employee who had been around for years and who, despite everyone’s desire to walk on eggshells in his presence, was an obstacle.

You might think I’m exaggerating, but let me ask you, if the board members name someone during the swat analysis as being an “obstacle,” do you think it’s a recognized issue? Absolutely!

I’ve learned over the years that the most difficult obstacles in any organization are often the ones that are living and breathing. You know what I mean. There’s Bob in the corner office who is stuck in his ways, or Sally who has been with the organization since its inception and disagrees with everything you say.

Living, breathing obstacles are often the most difficult to overcome. If only we could tuck them away somewhere, like in the trunk of a car… (Kidding. Sort of.)

The interesting thing is that dealing with this type of obstacle is no different than dealing with a skid on icy roads.

You need to agree with them.

That’s right; agree with what they are suggesting, when they suggest it. Give them the floor, let them speak their mind, and agree with them.

Sound counter-intuitive? Well, it might be, but it’s the only way to diffuse them as an obstacle.

I’ve repeatedly found that when you let those who oppose ideas fully voice their opinion, they tend to lose their stamina. In fact, I often find that those who are most boisterous are often so as a result of having others dismiss their ideas for long periods of time. The longer they perceive they are ignored, the more of an “obstacle” they become.

If you allow them a stage to fully voice their opinion and explain it to others, there is an 80% chance they will feel listened to, validated, and be prepared in turn to fully listen to the ideas of other.

So the next time you have someone speaking out in rebellion towards the ideas of your board or leadership team, give them the floor and hear them out. You just might find that not only do they share some information that may have been missing from their earlier explanations, but they actually lose momentum and avoid skidding out of control.

[Tweet “Living, breathing obstacles are often the most difficult to overcome.”]

© Shawn Casemore 2016. All rights reserved.

 

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Avoid a Shipwreck with Clear Vision

Shawn Casemore • No Comment
Posted: September 26, 2016

I’ve noticed an alarming trend in the past couple years while assisting clients in formulating their strategy… There is an increasing desire to avoid “touching” the Vision and Mission statement during a strategy session, in favor of focusing on key objectives to move the business forward.

When I’ve asked why, the answer I receive typically falls into the “time and money” category. You know the one. “We don’t have the time or money to invest in re-formulating our vision.”

That’s fine (well, actually it’s not), but we should remember something. Our vision, for ourselves or our business, is what we define as a desirable future state. It’s where we want to be in the next twenty-four to forty-eight months. It’s something that reignites our passion and drive for our business.

Sure it takes time to come up with a vision that is worth getting out of bed for, and time is money. But who in the world wants to pursue a vision, the same vision in fact, for over a decade? 

Hasn’t the world (and most things in it) changed? 

Don’t customers expect something different than they did just a decade ago?

 Aren’t employees becoming more distracted and needing something that fuels their passion?

I recommend to all my clients that their vision statement is re-visited in its entirety at least every 24 months, using the following questions: 

  1. Why are we here? Who do we serve? What’s the value we offer?
  1. Where do we need to be in the next twenty-four to forty-eight months to remain relevant to our market and why?
  1. What do customers (new and existing) need from us in the next forty-eight months to support their growth?
  1. What purpose is so compelling it would make our employees jump out of bed in the morning?
  1. What new products or services will define our business within the next five years?

With the compiled responses from these questions, you will have the necessary ingredients to create a compelling vision… Just a little polish to make it memorable, and you’ll be set.

Don’t let your vision of your desired future become blurry. Your vision is more important than any other aspect of your strategy, as it is the beacon that shines to guide you and the organization to the future you so desire.

If that’s not compelling enough, then you can continue to beat objectives to death. If it were me, however, I’d want to make sure I was focusing my team’s time and effort on the right objectives, which ties directly back to having a relevant and powerful vision.

[Tweet “Our vision, for ourselves or our business, is what we define as a desirable future state.”]

© Shawn Casemore 2016. All rights reserved.

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