1. © 2011 SkillSoft Ireland Limited
Leadership Essentials: Communicating Vision
Presentation & Facilitation Guide
© 2011 SkillSoft Ireland Limited

2. Introduction and Ground Rules
Presenter: [enter name of presenter or facilitator].
Target audience: Supervisors, managers, directors, and individuals wanting to develop their leadership skills.
Goal: To effectively communicate vision as a leader.
Ground rules:
List ground rules here.
Presenter: Placeholder for facilitator, instructor, presenter info.
Target audience: Supervisors, managers, directors, and individuals wanting to develop their leadership skills.
Goal: To effectively communicate vision as a leader.
Tip: This is also a good place to establish ground rules such as "everyone participates," "no electronic devices, including smartphones," etc.

3. Agenda Course Overview. Topic 1: Importance of Communicating Vision.
Topic 2: Techniques for Communicating Vision.
Topic 3: Communicating Vision as a Leader.
Tip: The PowerPoint slides are aligned with the topics in the source course. This slide lists the titles of those topics. Modify as necessary.

4. Course Overview Leadership messages: Concern significant issues.
Flow from leadership perspective.
Reflect imperatives and values.
Express culture and climate.
Build and strengthen bonds.
Reflect organizational culture, mission, climate, and values.
As a leader, how important are your communication skills? Can you think of a great leader who was a poor communicator? When leaders can't communicate effectively, they cease to be leaders. It's as simple as that. To get followers to move in a given direction, you have to be able to effectively let them know the direction to go in, how to get there, and why they should go.
Leadership messages can be distinguished from other types of communication by certain characteristics:
They concern significant issues that affect stakeholders.
They flow from the leadership perspective and have context associated with them.
They reflect organizational imperatives and values.
They express the organizational culture and climate – the organization's attitude and general way of doing things.
In addition to getting followers to perform a particular action, leadership messages build and strengthen the bonds between leaders and followers. Followers scrutinize leaders closely. And every little thing a leader does has an effect on followers. But not everything that comes out of a leader's mouth is a leadership message. Leadership messages deal with the bigger stuff. They're important, mission-related messages that drive actions and have significant effects on stakeholders, such as employees, customers, strategic partners, and shareholders.
Leadership messages come with baggage attached. Because these messages flow from the leadership perspective, the character, position, and behavior of the leader all affect how the message is received. Leadership messages reflect the organizational culture, mission, climate, and values. The ability to employ the right communication techniques, taking into account these factors, may be the most important thing a leader does.

5. Course Overview Vision messages let people know:
What organization stands for.
Where it's going and why.
Strong vision inspires employees.
The vision of a company drives progress. And communicating that vision is at the heart of what it means to be a leader. Vision messages let people know what the organization stands for, where it's going, and why. A well- communicated vision message gets people moving in the right direction, and supports and encourages related behaviors that build momentum. A strong vision inspires employees and gets everyone on the same page, helping to increase motivation, efficiency, and productivity.

6. Topic 1: Importance of Communicating Vision
Identify approaches to communication that are likely to be important to employees.
This is the objective from the first topic in the source course.

7. Communicating the Vision
Leaders:
Guide others towards common goals.
Visualize an ideal organizational future.
People follow leaders because of the vision.
Successfully communicating vision increases your effectiveness as a leader.
As a leader, by definition, you guide and move others towards your vision of a common goal. Getting people going in the right direction may involve many types of communication. Sometimes you focus efforts on motivating employees, and at other times, you focus on clarifying expectations. But of all the messages leaders send, one of the most important ones is communicating the vision. Affirming and promoting the future vision lets people know where the organization is headed and what it stands for.
Leaders visualize an ideal organizational future they want to achieve, and people follow leaders because of the vision. So, being skilled at communicating a compelling vision and a clear sense of purpose will increase your effectiveness as a leader.
Tip: Ask participants to think of a vision associated with their organization. Ask how this vision is communicated to employees.

8. Communicating the Vision
Good vision communication:
Is persuasive.
Points the way.
Builds loyalty.
Sets a worthy goal.
Inspires and encourages.
Fosters courage.
Reflects the organization's character.
Good vision communication has the following important characteristics and results:
It's persuasive, credible, and strikes a chord in people.
It points the way by identifying purpose and direction, allowing people to align their efforts towards a common goal.
It builds loyalty by involving employees actively in the vision.
It sets a worthy goal that reflects ideals, and demands high standards of excellence.
It inspires enthusiasm and encourages commitment by presenting goals as achievable.
It fosters courage and confidence by assuring people they're on the right track and goals are achievable.
It reflects the organization's character by focusing on its strengths and beliefs, such as integrity, ethics, or service.
Tip: Ask participants to recall the vision they thought of for the previous slide. Ask them if the way it has been promoted within their organization fits the characteristics of good vision communication.

9. Elements of a Vision Statement
Your company's vision statement should tell people three things about your organization: it's core values, it's core purpose, and it's direction.
Core values: Your organization's core values are eternal and unchanging. They describe who the business is deep down inside. Without these values, your organization wouldn't exist as you know it.
Core purpose: Your organization's core purpose is its reason for existence. Naturally, most businesses exist to make money, but there's usually a more inspiring reason driving business success as well.
Direction: A vision statement should also indicate your organization's direction, where it's going in the long run, and what its hopes are for the future.
Tip: Ask participants what they think their organization's core values, core purpose, and direction are.

10. An Organization's Vision Statement
Must be tied to organization's values.
Can't invent and impose new values.
A vision statement must be tied to the values that already exist and are central to your organization. You can't invent and impose new values upon an organization.
If slow, steady, conservative growth is a core tenet of your organization, then your vision should be focused on that core value to succeed. If your vision statement tries to focus efforts on rapid change, adaptability, and willingness to take risks, it will likely fail.

11. Reflect
To successfully craft and communicate your vision, you must be able to articulate your organization's core values. Although you probably feel you know what your organization is about and what it holds dear, try thinking about this process as a leader new to the organization. How might a new leader approach searching for the values that truly define who you are as a company?
Pose this question to the participants and ask for ways that someone can find out about their organization's core values.
Provide the following feedback, if necessary:
New leaders might survey employees and research the company's history to try to discover the company's strengths and values and to better understand what makes the organization tick.

12. Importance of Communicating Vision as a Leader
Communicating vision is central to being a leader.
Effective leaders know how to:
Create a compelling vision.
Make their vision a reality.
To realize vision:
Shape the organizational conversation.
Communicating vision is central to what it means to be a leader. As a leader, you have somewhere you want your organization to go – an idealized future vision. A leader's internal mandate is to get followers to that place. When you successfully communicate your vision, you guide the organization toward that future, affecting the organizational dialog, actions, methods, milestones, and culture.
Effective leaders know how to create a compelling vision and put it into words for others. They also know how to make their vision a reality and ensure lasting change.
You translate vision to reality by shaping the organizational conversation. You guide its direction, helping to focus planning, projects, resources, and meetings on the issues that will move the vision forward. This way you can ensure that the quality of the dialog remains high.
Because it's so important to realizing vision, you must understand how to use the organizational conversation to get desired results.

13. Shared Vision By achieving a shared vision:
Employees align with core values.
Behaviors associated with vision encourage one another.
Vision becomes self-supporting.
The ultimate goal of communicating a vision is to establish a sense of shared vision across the enterprise. The purpose, values, and direction defined by the vision should infiltrate all areas of the organization. Although acknowledging and comprehending a vision statement is a vital first step, as a leader, you must also successfully communicate the vision.
As a sense of shared vision is achieved, your employees develop very strong alignment with your organization's core values.
The behaviors associated with the vision begin to encourage one another, breeding more similar behaviors and providing mutual support and motivation.
The journey toward the vision becomes self-supporting, self-propelling, self-motivating, and to some degree, self-fulfilling.

14. Practice Which statements are true about vision communication?
A. A well-crafted vision includes statements of core values and purpose as well as direction.
B. A successfully communicated vision guides the organizational dialog, affecting behavior and culture.
C. Choosing the core values, core purpose, and direction you want for the organization is the first step in articulating the vision.
D. Once a sense of shared vision permeates the organization, it's self- reinforcing and self-motivating.
E. Once a vision is successfully articulated, a sense of shared vision is achieved throughout the organization.
F. Leaders can shape the organizational dialog to translate vision to reality.
Tip: Call on individual participants for a response, ask for a show of hands to get group response, or ask participants to jot down their answers on a piece of paper and discuss with a partner or in a small group. This tip applies to all practice questions in this blended learning resource PowerPoint file.
A. This is a correct option. (Vision messages should be simple and clear, and they should explain the core values that drive the vision, the core purpose beyond mere profit, and the direction efforts will take.)
B. This is a correct option. (A properly communicated vision guides speech and actions throughout the organization, ensuring alignment of employees' behaviors with the organization's core values.)
C. This is an incorrect option. (Although values, direction, and purpose are required for an effective vision statement, core values cannot be imposed; they must already exist and be discovered and articulated for the vision statement.)
D. This is a correct option. (A sense of shared vision can be somewhat self-fulfilling. As the organization embraces the vision, the behaviors associated with it snowball, encouraging more similar, supportive behaviors.)
E. This is an incorrect option. (Articulating the vision is simply the first of many steps. For example, before you can achieve a shared sense of vision, you also need to guide the organizational dialog.)
F. This is a correct option. (The driving purpose of leaders is to translate their vision of the future to reality, so it's important for leaders to know how to shape the organizational discussion, which in turn affects behavior and culture.)

15. Communicating the Vision – Example
Jan, a successful and respected manager.
After giving presentation, expected cooperation on new initiative.
Response was lukewarm.
Didn't communicate the vision effectively.
Consider Jan, a successful department manager who's respected and followed by employees throughout her organization. After giving her recent presentation, she expected companywide cooperation on the new "Best Price to the Customer" initiative. She worked hard preparing it and was pleased with all the content she was able to cover in a single hour. But despite the long tradition of low pricing at the company, response to the initiative was lukewarm at best.
What did Jan do wrong? She thought she had successfully summarized the reasons for the new price initiative. But as it turned out, she hadn't actually communicated the vision effectively.
Leaders are usually effective communicators by nature. It's part of what makes them leaders. But in this particular case, the results show that Jan missed the mark.

16. Shortcomings When Communicating Vision
Focusing on form not substance.
Underestimating the audience.
Being a controlling communicator.
Obsessing with the message.
Lacking authenticity.
When communicating the vision, certain actions and traits can keep you from connecting with your followers. These shortcomings are as follows:
Form not substance: Rather than spending their time transmitting vital information, some leaders have a tendency to mistake form, style, dazzle, and lavish presentation for substance.
Underestimate the audience: Leaders sometimes underestimate their audience, either in terms of intelligence, interest level, or the degree to which they can be trusted with information.
Controlling communicators: Some leaders can be controlling, one-way communicators. These types of leaders tend to be arrogant and patronizing, and overall they're less likely to motivate people.
Obsessed with their message: Some leaders tend to talk to others in a self-centered way, focusing on themselves and their own interests. They can be so obsessed with their message that they forget to concentrate on persuading their audience.
Lack of authenticity: Leaders' actions need to match their message. This is often referred to as "walking the talk." When there's a disconnect between behavior and message, followers perceive this as a lack of authenticity.
Tip: Ask participants whether they've ever experienced these issues when either communicating a vision themselves, or as an employee when a manager was communicating a vision but didn't do so effectively.

17. Rate
How highly do you think employees value communication skills in leaders?
A. It's the most important skill of all.
B. It's important, but not as important as intelligence and business knowledge.
C. It's well down on the priority list; a strong image is more important.
Pose this question to the participants and ask for a show of hands to rate the value of communication skills.
Provide the following feedback for each option:
A. The number one thing employees value in a leader is communication with staff. This even ranks higher than qualities such as intelligence and business acumen.
B. Employees do value intelligence and skill in their leaders, but they value good communication with employees more.
C. Employees value communication above a leader's image. Employees often perceive leaders as worrying too much about image instead of substance.

18. Communicating Successfully as a Leader
Understand your audience.
Employees want:
To be kept up to date.
To be told more.
Leaders who "walk the talk".
To be heard.
To communicate successfully as a leader, you need to understand your audience. A 2006 online survey of employees in the UK conducted by Explorandum, an independent market research company, showed employees value communication highly. The study indicated that employees tend to rate communication higher than charisma, reputation, or business acumen with regard to what they want from their leaders.
Here are the types of things your employees want from you as a leader:
Employees want to be kept up to date. They want to hear both the good and the bad news as it happens. They want to hear from their leaders face-to-face. Leaders often underestimate the difference in impact between sending a companywide as opposed to a few timely words to employees face-to-face.
They want to be told more. They rarely get enough straight information from leaders about organizational plans and goals. Employees are more interested in the company's strategy than leaders tend to give them credit for.
They value leaders who "walk the talk," which means being genuine in your enthusiasm for the vision and ensuring your actions reflect what your words are saying.
Employees want to be heard. They want leaders to listen when feedback is given and to acknowledge their input. Whether or not the leader acts upon the input is secondary. When input is given, employees want it to be acknowledged.

19. Activity
Vision Communication Checklist – Assessment Activity Use this activity to assess your ability to effectively communicate your organization’s vision.
Activity Title: Vision Communication Checklist – Assessment Activity
Filename: bllead_05_a02_bs_enus001.doc
Tip: Have handouts copied and/or prepared for electronic distribution in advance of the session. This activity can be completed or assigned here as part of the regular flow of content, or saved until later and given as a follow-on or home work assignment. Either works fine. If you want to delay the activity until the end of the session, just move the slide to the proper place in the slide sequence.

20. Successful Communication – Example
Alex, departmental head at sporting goods manufacturing company.
New green initiative.
Held meetings with employees in planning stages.
Employees appreciated early warning.
Enthusiastic response.
Alex is a department head and respected leader at a sporting goods manufacturing company. When the new green initiative was set up and still in the planning stages, he held meetings with the employees of each department to explain the tentative plans. Although he could have waited for the quarterly companywide gathering, employees appreciated the early warning and the trust he showed by providing them with thorough information. The response was enthusiastic.

21. Discussion
Think of managers you have worked under in your organization, or in other organizations. Did they communicate the organization's vision effectively? What communication strategies or techniques did they use to achieve this?
Pose these questions to the participants and discuss the strategies their managers used to communicate vision messages effectively. If their managers didn't communicate the message effectively, discuss why not.
Facilitate this discussion by asking the following questions:
Did your manager keep employees up to date about what was happening in the organization?
Did your manager provide employees with information about the company's strategies?
Was your manager genuine in his/her enthusiasm for the vision? Did he/she "walk the talk"?
Did your manager encourage and acknowledge feedback from employees?
How do you think your leadership style compares?
You can also ask the following questions to find the reasons why the participants think their manager did not communicate effectively:
When communicating, did your manager emphasize style and form over substance?
Did you ever feel your intelligence, interest, or trust was underestimated when spoken to by your manager?
Did your manager ever come across as controlling, arrogant, or patronizing?
Did your manager tend to focus on how the message affected him/herself, rather than how it affected the audience?
Was your manager believable? Did he/she seem authentic when communicating the message, or did you feel a level of uncertainty about what he/she was saying?

22. Practice
Which of these approaches to communication are likely to be important to employees?
A. Keeping them up to date.
B. Providing more information.
C. Providing a dazzling presentation of the vision.
D. Listening to them.
E. Being genuine.
F. Being completely focused on the message.
A. This is a correct option. (Employees want current information. They want to be kept in the loop rather than minimally informed after all is said and done.)
B. This is a correct option. (Employees want to know more about the rationale for the company's actions and about plans for the future. And they want to be let in on the information early enough in the process to have a chance to provide input.)
C. This is an incorrect option. (Employees are more concerned with substance than form, and a dazzling presentation will probably be less effective than an honest, face-to-face, informative talk.)
D. This is a correct option. (One of the traits employees value greatly in a leader is when that person acknowledges their input. They're more likely to listen when the leader is listening to them too.)
E. This is a correct option. (Employees value leaders whose actions match their message, or who "walk the talk.")
F. This is an incorrect option. (Leaders who are too obsessed with their vision and its message are likely to be one-way communicators who fail to focus on persuading employees.)

23. Activity
Valued Leadership Communications – Assessment Activity Use this activity to find out what employees in your organization want from you as a leader and value most in terms of communication.
Activity Title: Valued Leadership Communications – Assessment Activity
Filename: bllead_05_a02_bs_enus002.doc
Tip: Have handouts copied and/or prepared for electronic distribution in advance of the session. This activity can be completed or assigned here as part of the regular flow of content, or saved until later and given as a follow-on or home work assignment. Either works fine. If you want to delay the activity until the end of the session, just move the slide to the proper place in the slide sequence.

24. Topic 2: Techniques for Communicating Vision
Match techniques for communicating vision to examples of how to execute them.
This is the objective from the second topic in the source course.

25. Vision Communication Techniques
Imagine a time when a corporate leader could decide a course of action and make all employees follow in robot- like fashion. Seems pretty unlikely, doesn't it? And it's certainly not the case today. As a leader, you have to explain the rationale for decisions, promote the idea to others, and coach and guide a change process along to get others enthusiastically on board with a vision.
You must persuade employees to believe corporate objectives are achievable and there's a personal payoff if they commit and contribute wholeheartedly. To successfully communicate a vision to this extent requires the use of various techniques:
Keep the message simple and clear, to avoid misinterpretation and ensure employees get it.
Make sure you recognize the differences in audiences and personalize the message.
Multiply the message – essentially overcommunicating it – to ensure it's taken in.
Remember to communicate your enthusiasm at every opportunity to "infect" your audiences with it.
Get employees to take a personal interest in the vision, making the vision their own. Acknowledging employee feedback and input gives employees a sense of ownership of the vision.
Be authentic, as employees value leaders who "walk the talk."
Tip: Ask participants if they have any other ideas or strategies for successfully communicating vision.

26. Keeping the Message Simple and Clear
Core message should be short, memorable, and to the point.
Vision message should speak to both internal and external customers.
Speak to both internal employees and external customers.
If easy to remember, will affect behaviors, statements, and actions.
The formal vision statement of your organization should lay out the core values, purpose, and direction of the company. But the core message or strategic principle associated with the vision should be kept simple and clear, as well as short, memorable, and to the point.
Your vision message should be easily expressed like a motto or slogan. A single phrase suitable for letterheads, signs, and plaques is ideal, although its aim must be far broader than that.
The difference between vision messages and marketing slogans is that your vision message has to speak to both internal employees and external customers.
If your vision message is easy to remember, people will use it like a mantra, repeating it throughout the organization. Behaviors, statements, and actions at various levels of the organization will all be affected.

27. Practice Which vision messages are appropriately worded?
A. It is our guarantee to make the good stuff in all aspects of our business.
B. Where people are the priority.
C. Satisfied employees are our specialty.
D. Absolutely, positively overnight.
E. Think different.
A. This is an incorrect option. (A guarantee of "good stuff" is a vision message that's unclear and a little too broad to guide behavior. And if it can't accomplish that, it's unlikely to inspire.)
B. This is a correct option. ("Where people are the priority" is the kind of vision message that makes it clear to all stakeholders that the organization expects actions to reflect a people-oriented approach.)
C. This is an incorrect option. (If your vision message is too internally focused, as "Satisfied employees are our specialty" is, it will be unlikely to inspire stakeholders outside the organization.)
D. This is a correct option. (FedEx has used the slogan "Absolutely, positively overnight" to drive behavior both inside and outside the organization. FedEx's employees and customers expect this goal to be honored.)
E. This is a correct option. (Apple rolled out the message "Think different" to make it clear that innovation was a key corporate value. It's flexible enough to allow broad interpretation while setting a direction for the company culture.)

28. Personalizing Your Vision Message
Customize your message for each audience.
To personalize your message:
Deliver it in a personal way.
Give your audience a personal connection
to the vision.
To deliver the message in a personal way:
Communicate it during personal interactions.
Meet your audience in small numbers.
After you have a clear vision message, the next step to transforming your vision into a reality is communicating it so that everyone in your organization understands.
Your audiences will vary because people vary, and different groups have different priorities. So you have to personalize, or customize, your message for each audience, focusing on the things that they value and understand.
Personalizing the message involves both delivering it in a personal way and giving your audience a personal connection to the fulfillment of the vision.
To deliver the vision message in a personal way, communicate the vision during personal engagements and interactions – not just through impersonal s, promotional campaigns, large formal presentations, and Internet postings. You must break down the barriers between you and your audience by meeting with them in small enough numbers to allow for give and take. If you're in a big meeting, do your best to get out from behind the lectern and engage the audience directly.

29. Discussion
Think of a time when you – or a manager or supervisor in your organization – had to communicating a vision message to different groups of people. Did you try to personalize the message depending on the audience? Was the message itself simple and clear?
Pose this question to the participants and discuss the methods used to personalize message communication in their companies.
Ask them to first identify the particular audiences the message needed to be communicated to, and then ask the following questions:
How did you try to tailor the message to suit each audience?
What medium did you use to deliver the message to each audience?
What barriers did you need to break down between leaders and followers?

30. Using a Direct and Personal Approach
Face time and eye contact are important.
See if your message is getting across.
Clarify and address any concerns.
Focus on the listeners and their priorities.
If listeners are resistant, focus on the benefits.
Face time and eye contact are important motivators. You can make a big impression on employees by getting out of your office and walking around the building for informal drop-in visits. Some employees may never have had that sort of contact with a leader. Using a more direct and personal approach lets you see if your message is getting across and allows you to clarify and immediately address any concerns your employees have.
People want to hear about how the future vision you're promoting is going to affect them.
Many leaders have a tendency to focus on their own motivation for pursuing the vision. What you need to do is focus on the listeners, what their priorities are, and what the fulfillment of the vision will mean for them.
When listeners are resistant to a message, it's often because their priorities conflict with those embodied in the vision. Constant, patient communication focused on benefits to the listener is the way to overcome resistance.

31. Multiplying the Message
How much communication is enough?
Unlikely you'll ever overcommunicate the vision.
Take every opportunity to explain and show passion.
Use as many avenues of communication as possible.
So, how much communication is enough? Chances are you'll never actually overcommunicate the vision. Take every opportunity to explain and demonstrate the passion for the vision – live and in person – keeping the vision at the forefront of your communications. Multiply the message using as many avenues of communication as you can.

32. Reflect
How many different channels or avenues of communication can you think of for communicating your vision message in your organization?
Pose this question to the participants and look for examples of different ways to promote a vision in their organizations.
Provide the following feedback, if necessary:
You could feature the vision message in personal presentations, written communications, company newsletters, annual meetings, advertising, marketing campaigns, and signs and plaques in public areas and offices.
You can also multiply the message by using electronic media such as the company intranet, videoconferencing, , and blogging. You can communicate on other levels using promotional coffee mugs or company T-shirts.

33. Multiplying the Message
Use long-term repetitive reminders.
Include face-to-face interaction.
Another way to multiply the message is to repeat it over and over. Instead of a single, multi-channel "media blitz" that occurs over a few days or a week, consider expending resources towards long-term repetitive reminders of the vision message.
But as useful as electronic and print communication is for disseminating information and repeating a message, it's no substitute for face-to-face interaction. As a leader, when you bring the vision message to employees directly, and in-person, the mere act shows a high level of enthusiasm and commitment.

34. Spreading the Message Patience and effort are required.
To overcome resistance, make communication a priority.
It's a long journey from crafting your vision message to thoroughly embedding the vision throughout your organization. It requires patience and tireless effort on your part to promote the vision.
To overcome resistance, to get employees moving, and to keep them on track, you must make communication a priority.
Tip: Ask participants if they've ever experienced resistance from others when trying to embed or push through a vision in their organization.

35. Spreading the Message – Example
Andrea is an executive leader at a large construction firm. She's meeting with some department heads to brainstorm techniques to spread the new vision message. Follow along as they discuss ways to craft the vision and facilitate its communication. Andrea: Our corporate vision statement is "To provide safe and affordable housing and become the number one home construction company in the nation, because we believe everyone deserves to start life with a safe roof over their heads." How can we get that message across? Lewis: We need something easier for people to absorb. How about shortening that to just "Your house – for life"? Andrea: Great! That's short, simple, and clear. It also provides an inspiring message while remaining flexible enough for us to define how the goal is to be achieved. I can picture it on billboards or as a tag line to our ads as well.
Introduce this slide as an example of spreading an organization's vision message.
Read the dialog aloud to participants, allow them to read it quietly to themselves, or call on four people to read out the scenario.
The conversation continues on the next slide.

36. Spreading the Message – Example
Lianne: Sounds good. What about focusing on local community housing when we present it to employees at the various plants around the country? That will provide some motivation. Arthur: Yes, but when we advertise it on the Internet, we should take a more global view. We'll make sure it speaks to each group's priorities. Lianne: Speaking of the Internet, I think we need to have a big media rollout and heavy push for about three weeks around the time of the annual company meeting. We should have the CEO do a Webcast and buy some advertising using celebrity endorsements, in addition to the usual heavy promotion through our and regular mail channels. Andrea: You're right about using new avenues and putting on a big push, but three weeks isn't enough. This initiative represents the company's future direction. We've got to use long-term thinking and ensure the message keeps repeating in years to come.
A discussion related to this dialog follows on the next slide.

37. Discussion
Do you think Andrea and her team came up with effective strategies for communicating their organization's vision? If so, why do you think their approach will be effective?
Pose this question to the participants and call on individuals to share their thoughts with the rest of the group.
Discuss how Andrea's team used the following techniques for communicating a vision:
Keeping the message simple and clear.
Personalizing the message.
Multiplying the message.

38. Practice
Match each vision communication technique to its appropriate examples. You may use each technique more than once.
Techniques A. Keep the message clear and simple. B. Personalize the message. C. Multiply the message.
Examples ___ Establish a blog dedicated to the vision and use , regular mail, and the company intranet to promote it. ___ Focus and phrase the message for the listener. ___ Plan for a five-year promotional campaign for the vision. ___ Talk to your audience about the areas they know and care about rather than wasting time on specifics from other areas. ___ Craft a maxim or motto similar to GE's "We bring good things to life".
Tip: Ask participants to read through the techniques on the left and find the best match or matches from the list of examples on the right. Participants can write their answers down and compare them with those of another participant, or discuss the matches in groups. Remind participants that each technique may be used more than once.
Use this answer key to fully debrief the correct answers with participants:
C Establish a blog… (Using a variety of sources to promote the vision is a great way to multiply the message.)
B Focus and phrase the message… (You can personalize the message by targeting your audience's concerns and interests. The focus should be on the benefits to the audience and to the organization.)
C Plan for a five-year promotional campaign… (A way to multiply the message is to patiently continue promoting it in the long term.)
B Talk to your audience… (A great way to personalize the message is to speak to your audience's strengths – what they know and care about.)
A Craft a maxim or motto… (Crafting a short, inspiring motto is a way to keep the message clear and simple, ensuring that it can be easily transmitted.)

39. Communicating Your Enthusiasm
Show your commitment and excitement at every opportunity.
People fear the unknown.
To overcome resistance:
Be patient and enthusiastic.
Focus on benefits.
Present the vision as being special.
When presenting a vision message, you must employ the fourth technique and communicate your enthusiasm in every possible way. As a leader, you must be passionate about achieving the vision's goal and about the process of getting there as well. Remember to show your commitment and excitement at every opportunity.
People fear the unknown and dislike change, even when they recognize that the new direction is an improvement. The key to overcoming resistance is to keep talking, patiently and enthusiastically. Focus on the benefits the new way of doing things will provide for employees and the company.
By demystifying the uncertain future, you make it more familiar and less intimidating. With the constant reassurance of your enthusiasm, you'll eventually overcome resistance to the vision. And your followers will become enthused as well.
Your vision communication needs to stand out. Employees may have been pitched many similar change initiatives in the past. Your job as a leader is to present the vision as being special.

40. Reflect
Rather than sending yet another or memo, try using nonroutine methods to communicate the vision. What nonroutine methods do you think might work in your organization?
Pose this question to the participants and ask for examples of different ways to present vision messages.
Provide the following feedback, if necessary:
Songs, poems, stories, mascots, celebrities, and art can be effective means of vision communications. You can try anything that will grab attention and inspire followers toward the vision.

41. Making the Message Meaningful for Others
Make the message a motivating one.
Get employees to make the vision their own.
Involve employees in vision process.
Solicit and acknowledge employee feedback.
But even a unique message format will not get your message and enthusiasm across if it lacks meaning for the listener. You must make the message a motivating one to others by making it meaningful to them. There must be a personal connection to the vision to make it attractive and motivating.
Another important vision communication technique is to get employees to make the vision their own. Don't make the mistake of underestimating your employees' interest level, understanding, and input. Involving employees in the vision process wherever possible is a good way to build commitment. Soliciting and acknowledging employee feedback and input gives employees a sense of ownership of the vision.

42. Being Authentic Speak from the heart.
Avoid platitudes, euphemisms or jargon.
Just be yourself.
"Walk the talk" - model the message.
The final technique to discuss is one of the most important – simply be authentic. Speak from the heart, avoid platitudes, euphemisms, jargon, and office-speak – just be yourself.
Part of being authentic is "walking the talk," or ensuring that you model the vision message with your behaviors. Employees watch leaders closely and won't get on board with a leader whose actions seem to contradict her words.

43. Presenting the Message
Rehearse and prepare thoroughly.
Remove extraneous information.
Anticipate questions.
You need your presentations and messages to seem spontaneous, but that's not to say you should just "wing it" when giving a presentation. Particularly, at first, rehearse and prepare thoroughly before speaking to people. Rehearsal doesn't detract from authenticity, it just helps tighten up your approach to ensure you come across the way you should. Practice may reveal extraneous information you can remove. It may also help you anticipate questions so that your answers can be clearer and more persuasive.

44. Presenting the Message – Example
After working with her fellow managers to craft the vision, Andrea, an executive leader at a construction firm, is discussing what else she can do to present and promote the vision message. Follow along as she and her colleagues consider what to do. Andrea: I'm enthusiastic about the "Your house – for life" initiative, but I've got to remember that each new audience I address doesn't know that. Lewis: How will you get your enthusiasm across to them? Andrea: I'll make sure that's the first thing I talk about in every meeting and presentation. And I think I'll make up some silly little poem or song listing the reasons why I think this effort is great. Maybe I could rework the lyrics to some old song.
Introduce this slide as an example of preparing to present a vision message.
Read the dialog aloud to participants, allow them to read it quietly to themselves, or call on four people to read out the scenario.
The conversation continues on the next slide.

45. Presenting the Message – Example
Lianne: That will catch their attention. But you'll have to remember that your reasons for being excited aren't necessarily the same as those of your audience. Andrea: You're right. I'll be sure my presentation ties the vision in to each audience's future and how it will benefit them. I can't expect others to get excited based on what this means to me. Arthur: I noticed you've got tons of notes with lots of facts and figures. How long is your presentation? Andrea: Well, right now, it's way too long. I'm going to rehearse it thoroughly and get rid of any "nice-to-know" information. I want to keep the focus on the core ideas and make sure I put those across the way I want.
A discussion related to this dialog follows on the next slide.

46. Discussion
How effective do you think the ideas from Andrea and her team will be in terms of communicating enthusiasm and tailoring the message to make it meaningful for others?
Pose this question to the participants and call on individuals to share their thoughts with the rest of the group.
Discuss how Andrea's team used the following techniques for communicating a vision:
Communicating enthusiasm.
Making the message meaningful for others.
Being authentic.
Also discuss the effectiveness of her preparation and rehearsal methods.

47. Practice
Match the vision communication techniques to the appropriate examples of how to execute them. You may use each technique more than once.
Techniques A. Communicate enthusiasm. B. Make it their own. C. Be authentic.
Examples ___ Allow others to give feedback and input and acknowledge these contributions. ___ Talk about your attitude toward the vision at the start of each presentation. ___ Avoid insincere behavior and ensure you speak honestly about the vision. ___ Use songs or poems to present vision messages instead of the usual companywide s. ___ Rehearse what you will say to make your vision presentation seem spontaneous. ___ Point out the vision's focus on employee health to increase employee motivation.
Tip: Ask participants to read through the techniques on the left and find the best match or matches from the list of examples on the right. Participants can write their answers down and compare them with those of another participant, or discuss the matches in groups. Remind participants that each technique may be used more than once.
Use this answer key to fully debrief the correct answers with participants:
B Allow others to give feedback… (Getting employees involved in crafting and promoting the vision is a way to make them see it as their own.)
A Talk about your attitude… (Leading off with your feelings of support is a great way to communicate enthusiasm.)
C Avoid insincere behavior… (It's important to be authentic when communicating vision because employees watch leaders' behavior closely.)
A Use songs or poems… (One way to help communicate your enthusiasm more effectively is by using nonroutine methods of communication.)
C Rehearse what you will say… (Showing your authenticity is part of the technique of being authentic. Rehearsal helps you come across the way you mean to.)
B Point out the vision's focus… (Focusing on the benefits to your audience helps employees get on board with the vision initiative and make it their own.)

48. Activity
Techniques for Communicating Vision – Assessment Activity Use this activity to assess how effective and successful you are at communicating your organization’s vision message and to identify ways you could improve your vision communication.
Activity Title: Techniques for Communicating Vision – Assessment Activity
Filename: bllead_05_a02_bs_enus003.doc
Tip: Have handouts copied and/or prepared for electronic distribution in advance of the session. This activity can be completed or assigned here as part of the regular flow of content, or saved until later and given as a follow-on or home work assignment. Either works fine. If you want to delay the activity until the end of the session, just move the slide to the proper place in the slide sequence.

49. Topic 3: Communicating Vision as a Leader
Communicate vision to employees, as a leader in a given scenario.
This is the objective from the third topic in the source course.

50. Applying Vision Communication Techniques
Techniques ensure vision:
Is succinct and meaningful.
Affects followers personally.
If you don't totally support the vision:
Ensure there are elements of it you agree with.
Focus on your honest enthusiasm.
Avoid pessimistic language.
The techniques for communicating vision ensure your vision is succinct, is meaningful, and personally affects your followers. The goal of vision communication is to create a shared sense of vision throughout the organization. To achieve this, you must effectively communicate your genuine enthusiasm for the vision so that employees take in the vision and make it their own. This is a difficult enough task if you, yourself, are fully on board with the vision, but what if you're not?
If you're not totally on board with the vision, how can you communicate it sincerely?
Creating and communicating vision is your primary responsibility as a business leader. Regardless of any doubts you have, once the direction has been decided, you must put those doubts away and help your organization move forward.
But at the same time, as a leader, you have to be sincere in what you say, or employees will sense your hesitation and remain unconvinced.
Even if you aren't particularly happy with all aspects of the vision, there are sure to be elements of it that you do agree with. You should focus on showing your honest enthusiasm for those parts. For the aspects you're not fully in agreement with, find language that allows for your qualms but still drives the vision forward in a positive way. What you must avoid is language that seems disgruntled or pessimistic.

51. Discussion
Have you ever had to communicate a vision message you didn't completely support? How did you go about ensuring you remained sincere in your communication?
Pose this question to the participants and discuss how they communicated sincerity even though they might not have completely believe in the company's vision message. If nobody has had any experience of this, perhaps they're aware of a colleague or other manager who was in this position.
Did they admit to employees that they were unsure about some aspects?
Did they use appropriate language to express their doubts but still put the vision in a positive light? e.g. perhaps they expressed belief in the new direction and an expectation to better understand the value as things develop.
Did they emphasize their overall enthusiasm for the message?

52. Practice
Which statements do you think are appropriate if you aren't entirely on board with the vision yourself?
A. "I had a different plan, but until we prove this doesn't work, let's just make the best of it and try as hard as we can."
B. "I'm eager to get this vision implemented. Although I admit there are a few aspects of it I'm not sure about, I really believe in the new direction."
C. "I haven't fully mastered all aspects of this new way of doing things, but I'm fully committed to making it happen."
D. "I'm learning about the new way of doing things just like you, but I'm ready to take this on. We'll figure it all out together as we go."
E. "The board says this is the way things are going to go. What can we do, except try to make it work?"
A. This option is incorrect. (A disgruntled approach won't generate much enthusiasm from your employees.)
B. This option is correct. (You've been honest in admitting some doubts while remaining enthusiastic.)
C. This option is correct. (You've allowed for your issues while strongly stating your overall commitment.)
D. This option is correct. (By expressing confidence that you'll eventually be on board, you've admitted some reservations while voicing your desire to get things moving.)
E. This option is incorrect. (You've gone beyond admitting a few doubts. Although your statement may be honest, your attitude won't motivate others.)
Provide this additional feedback:
As a business leader, your job is to lead. You can admit some weak areas while focusing on your commitment and making your language encouraging. There are bound to be some aspects of the vision that you do approve of. You can admit some doubts, but you should focus on the things you can get behind. Your people will only follow your lead if they think you're optimistic about where things are headed.

53. Applying Vision Communication Techniques – Example
Jesse, an organizational leader at an engineering company.
In charge of communicating the company vision.
Team vision message "Defects...what defects?"
Personalizing the message:
Engages the crowd at his presentation.
Multiplying the message:
Spreads the vision message through various channels.
Company newsletter, advertising, intranet, t-shirts.
Being authentic:
Rehearsed and edited down his presentation.
Jesse is an organizational leader at an engineering company. He's in charge of the effort to communicate the company vision. Although the company has a long history of high quality, Jesse's background is in keeping costs down. His team has worked hard to come up with a suitable vision message to tie in with the upcoming Total Quality Management (TQM) rollout. The team members chose a lighthearted approach in keeping with the casual company culture. Their vision message is "Defects...what defects?"
Jesse uses three of the techniques for communicating vision as follows:
Personalize the message: In his presentation to the entire company, Jesse is careful to step out from behind the lectern and move through and engage the crowd, answering questions and giving the audience a close-up view of his enthusiasm.
Multiply the message: In addition to his formal presentations, Jesse and his team feature the vision message through a number of channels. The company newsletter runs a weekly column titled "Defects...what defects?" All advertising carries the motto, and a discussion board has been set up on the company intranet. Weekly guest speakers are featured in online chats, and promotional T-shirts, hats, and coffee mugs also help spread the vision message.
Be authentic: Jesse carefully rehearsed his presentation, first by himself, and then later, he asked one of his fellow managers to act as his audience to critique the presentation. As a result, he was able to remove a lot of extra material and find some areas that might be more sensitive to some audiences than others. He cut the presentation from one hour to forty-five minutes of his strongest material.

54. Applying Vision Communication Techniques – Example
Jesse is talking to Tina, the colleague who helped him rehearse his presentation. Follow along to learn how Jesse applied other vision communication techniques. Jesse: I'm planning a promotional web ad for the initiative as well, to demonstrate my enthusiasm for the project. I think it's important for employees to see my face and know I'm fully on board. Tina: But I got the impression you really felt Six Sigma would be a better approach for achieving a low defect rate? Jesse: I do think Six Sigma would be a much better choice for us. I think the board of directors has failed to take into account the company culture and the potential resistance TQM might meet. I think this initiative is very likely to fail. Tina: So why don't you just tell people what you think? Isn't it important to be genuine in your enthusiasm? Jesse: I wish I could. But because I don't agree, I think it's better if I just go with the flow and appear to be wholeheartedly enthusiastic. Why interject any doubt in people's minds? I've got to communicate my enthusiasm to get people to follow me.
Introduce this slide as a continuation of the example of Jesse.
Read the dialog aloud to participants, allow them to read it quietly to themselves, or call on two people to read out the scenario.
A practice question based on this conversation follows.

55. Practice
So after learning how Jesse approached communicating his vision, how do you think he did? Select the answer that best describes his overall approach and use of the vision communication techniques.
A. Jesse applied a few of the vision communication techniques, but not all. He dealt with his own doubts and lack of enthusiasm well.
B. Jesse used all six of the techniques well, but should have been clearer about his own position.
C. Jesse's lack of honesty with his followers is a problem. He did not make use of all six vision communication techniques.
This correct option is C. (Jesse dealt poorly with his own doubts and failed to use all of the vision communication techniques. His well-crafted and well-multiplied vision message will probably fail to take hold due to his lack of authenticity. Jesse didn't use all six of the techniques as effectively as he could have. For example, he did little to get employees to make the vision their own. And even those techniques he did use well may be undermined by his lack of honesty.)

56. Applying Vision Communication Techniques – Example
Things Jesse did well:
Short, clear vision message.
Personalized the message.
Multiplied the message, to an extent.
Things Jesse didn't do well:
Didn't help employees make the message their own.
Failed to admit his lack of commitment.
Dealt poorly with trying to be authentic.
Jesse's efforts to communicate the vision started off well with a short, clear vision message. He personalized the message by engaging employees and answering questions. And he multiplied the message through a number of channels. However, he and his team didn't really establish any long-term repetition of the message.
The use of a personal online message was a fair attempt at communicating enthusiasm through a nonroutine channel, but he made little attempt to help employees make the message their own.
Also, Jesse's failure to admit his lack of commitment in at least some small way affected the entire effort. He dealt poorly with his own hesitation, and to be authentic, he should have used appropriate language to let people know he wasn't 100% on board yet.

57. Activity
Vision Communications Planning – Activity Guide This activity gives you an opportunity to plan for communicating a vision message to employees. It will help you to identify the ways in which you can implement the six communication techniques.
Activity Title: Vision Communications Planning – Activity Guide
Filename: bllead_05_a02_bs_enus004.doc
Tip: Have handouts copied and/or prepared for electronic distribution in advance of the session. This activity can be completed or assigned here as part of the regular flow of content, or saved until later and given as a follow-on or home work assignment. Either works fine. If you want to delay the activity until the end of the session, just move the slide to the proper place in the slide sequence.

58. Wrap-up / Q&A Topic 1: Importance of Communicating Vision.
Identify approaches to communication that are likely to be important to employees.
Topic 2: Techniques for Communicating Vision.
Match techniques for communicating vision to examples of how to execute them.
Topic 3: Communicating Vision as a Leader.
Communicate vision to employees, as a leader in a given scenario.
Quickly review the topics and objectives covered. Prompt for any specific questions about the content.
Tip: This is also a great place to add closing discussion questions, such as:
What part of this content was the most interesting to you?
Do you see opportunities for applying this content in the near future? If yes, ask where and when.
Etc.
Tip: Add any additional closing comments or activities you may have in mind.