The Vision in Your Head Is Not the Vision Your Team Hears

When I started out, I assumed the hardest part of helping a business would be processes. With the professional services firms I work with, especially law firms, processes are usually the easy part. The hard part is the vision.

That surprised me, until I remembered my own company. I hired my first employee because I was overwhelmed. I did not sit them down and explain where we were going. I said, "This place is on fire, I need help." I did the same with person number two, number three and number ninety-nine. The vision never got communicated. It just got bigger in my head.

Thump, thump

There is a well-known study where one person taps a familiar song on a table and the other person tries to name it. The tapper is sure it is obvious. The listener just hears thump, thump. The success rate is tiny, and the tapper gets frustrated.

That is what most owners are doing with their vision. It is vivid to you. Your team is hearing thump, thump.

Signs your vision is not landing

• Ask five people where the firm is going and you get five different answers
• Your team brings you decisions that the vision should have already answered
• New initiatives start with energy and stall within a quarter
• You catch yourself thinking, "Why don't they get this?"

What we did in a recent session

In a recent quarterly session with a law firm in its second quarter on EOS, most of the day went to one thing: getting the vision out of the founder's head and onto paper in words the whole team could repeat. Once it was written and agreed on, the team had a clear path forward for the first time.

A few things help. Write it down, even if it changes later. Translate it for each audience. Your front line does not get excited about a revenue target; they want to know what is in it for them and why it matters. And repeat it far more than feels necessary. The old rule was that people need to hear something seven times. I have heard it is closer to 28 now.

Focus beats horsepower

I have raced cars for years. Early on I drove a car with all the horsepower in the world and kept getting lapped by a little Mazda Miata. These days I drive the little car, and I can pass a 500-horsepower Corvette in the corners. It catches me on the straights, but the corners are where races are won.

Businesses work the same way. The owners who win are not the ones chasing every shiny opportunity. They pick a direction, make sure everyone sees it, and stay tight in the corners.

More conversations like this on the podcast page, including the Lead Counsel show I co-host.