Setting a Course: How to Clarify Vision and Implement Strategy for BAM Pioneers
by Bernie Anderson
My name is Bernie Anderson and I have the honor of taking over the BAM blog for the next several weeks. I am a certified business and nonprofit consultant with Growability® – read more in my bio below.
This is Part 2 of a series. Read Part 1 here.
Like many American kids growing up in the 70s and 80s, my parent’s car always had a copy of the Rand McNally Road Atlas under the seat. In fact, I’m certain my parents still keep one.
Our family habit was road trips to obscure points in middle-America, and sometimes I could sit in the front seat. That meant I took on the position of navigator. In my family, the navigator’s job was to hold the Atlas, make sure we stayed on route, and warn the driver (always my dad) of upcoming turns or changes in directions. It all felt so important. Indeed, sometimes it very much was. A more reliable GPS has replaced the Rand McNally Road Atlas in the lap of a 10-year-old navigator. But the fact remains: Navigation is a crucial part of any road trip.
Navigation is the primary task of leadership in a business.
Every business leader should know two things:
- Where we’re going
- How we’re getting there
In my consulting work with Growability®, we provide clients with a “business operating system” built on the three simple ingredients of every organization: Leadership, Management, and marketing. I can’t understate the crucial nature of each of these.
Let’s begin with the most foundational element.
- Leadership is your business’ navigation system.
- Leadership is the flour in your bread.
- Leadership is the seed and the branches of your tree.
Leadership health is critical. Leadership toxicity will kill a business.
There are two critical tasks for leadership in your business.
1. Clarify vision
2. Implement strategy
Clarify Your Vision
Every business leader must think about the destiny of their organization with precision. This is even more crucial for a BAM project! Clear vision is how to spend your entire life doing the things that matter. People are drawn to and motivated by clear vision. Vision is hope. Hope fuels endurance, which is something you’ll most certainly need.
The process for clarifying vision doesn’t begin with drafting some sort of vision statement to paste on a wall and forget about. With a clear vision, you understand yourself and can explain what you do to others!
In my consulting work at Growability®, we teach this specific process for clarifying vision.
1. Understand the seasonality of your business
There is a seasonality to business — each of which have a distinct set of questions. The needs of a business in Spring (or start-up stage) differ from a business finding itself in the growth or Summer or the maturity of Autumn. Some are in Winter, where there is a need for innovation or reinvention. Start with this question: What stage of growth is my BAM project in right now? Do I have a plan for this stage?
2. Define your market
This the elemental business question. Who is your target customer? Are there enough of these customers in your market to provide you with the market share necessary to be profitable? Where do you position yourself in the market? Knowing your market and your place in the market is important because before making a statement about your future, it’s important to take a hard look at reality to be sure your vision isn’t just a dream that may never come true.
3. Define your competitive advantage
To gain market share, you don’t have to be good at everything. But for at least one thing, you must be exceptional. Where is your BAM project exceptional? Are you more convenient, consistent, capable — or do you provide more connection than anyone else in your market? Create value, and your customers will pay you.
4. Craft a compelling vision statement
A clear vision document should comprise three written statements, vision, mission and values.
Begin by capturing your passion and purpose:
Passion – Something you love enough to suffer for
Purpose – The combination of passion and generosity
Once you do that, you can define your vision:
Vision – The potential future when living your purpose.
Vision is the key ingredient to define two more critical statements,
Mission – The core activities of your organization that accomplish vision and create abundance.
Values – The beliefs and promises that guide your mission.
Writing this down matters. Bringing a vision to reality begins with putting it in writing. But we’re not finished yet.
5. Community impact and discipleship plan
A successful business is not enough. Business is power, and if entrepreneurial leaders don’t use that power for discipleship and human flourishing, business becomes about a single bottom line — and the beauty of a BAM project is much less meaningful than it should be. I believe every business should have a community impact plan and strategy. This should be an essential part of the BAM vision.
The vision is clear. Now what?
Implement Strategy
The second function of leadership is to implement a strategy that will get you to your destination. In 1977 this was your Rand McNally Atlas. Today it’s your GPS. What is the path for getting there?
In my work, I have an entire set of tools for helping leaders coordinate their GPS — or implement their strategy. This includes tools for current assessment, budgeting, pruning, and goal setting. There are three areas of your BAM project that need a strategy, a GPS, if you will.
Growth: Your business should always be growing. What are your goals and strategies for growth?
Purpose: If you don’t have strategies and goals for staying on purpose, it’s possible to lose your way and end up at the wrong destination all together.
Stability: With growth, you need stability. What are the processes and strategies that will keep your BAM project “on the rails” and running for years to come?
Know your destination. Build a route for getting there. These are the primary tasks of excellent leadership. If you are thinking about starting a BAM project, begin here. If you are currently running a BAM project, go back to these business leadership fundamentals. A clear vision with a working strategy makes everything you do in your business is easier.
These are two out of the six fundamental parts of the complete Growability® Business Operating System. If you would like help implementing this in your business or nonprofit organization, contact Bernie@growability.com for options.
Look out for posts through September on each of these three essentials for any business.
>> Read Part 1: Business and Bread: Build your BAM Project with 3 Simple Ingredients
>> Read Part 3: Marketing and Generosity: Sales and Solutions for Human Flourishing
>> Read Part 4: Adding Salt: How to Build and Manage Teams That Work
Bernie Anderson is a consultant, coach, and trainer with Growability® Consulting, specializing in non-profit and cross-cultural business and leadership. Check out the Growability® Podcast at all your favorite podcast places. He currently lives in Greenville, SC USA, with his wife of 34 years. Bernie’s career has certainly been a diverse one. He spent 13 years as a pastor and the better portion of 10 years living in Central Asia, while developing entrepreneurial, Christian leaders. Since returning to the US in 2014, he has been a major-gifts fundraiser for an international nonprofit and is currently a certified business and nonprofit consultant with Growability®, where the mission is to equip business and nonprofit leaders to enjoy meaningful work by creating scalable, effective, and generous organizations. For further help for your organization (or his exact sourdough process) feel free to email him bernie@growability.com.
