If you stopped five people at random in your company and asked, “What’s our vision?”—would you hear the same answer? Most owners assume yes. But misalignment hides in plain sight. It quietly slows decisions, muddies priorities, and makes scaling feel harder than it should.
The problem isn’t vision—it’s translation
Most organizations do have a vision. Where things fall apart is the hand-off from the leadership slide deck to everyday behavior. When vision isn’t operationalized, people default to “just doing the job,” data gets collected that doesn’t move the business forward, and managers give direction that doesn’t clearly tie back to purpose.
What it looks like when vision becomes operational
I worked with a company that decided to publish two parts of their vision—behavioral and financial—to every employee:
- Behavioral vision: The handful of behaviors that define how we work here (what “great” looks like in meetings, with customers, across teams).
- Financial vision: Clear targets for revenue, margin, and cash—so everyone understands the scoreboard and where we’re headed.
They didn’t stop at posters. They embedded the behavioral vision into performance reviews, and gave every employee a short set of KPIs they owned. Reviews were anchored to behaviors; weekly conversations looked at those KPIs. Within a quarter, the organization was rowing in the same direction. Hitting goals got easier, decisions sped up, and when it came time to grow, scaling was significantly smoother—because everyone already knew where they were headed and what was expected of them. It wasn’t the only change they made, but it was the first piece that made scaling real.
Make your vision usable in 30 days
You can replicate that momentum quickly:
- Write the two-part vision (1 page each, max).
- Behavioral: 5–7 observable behaviors you’ll praise and hold accountable.
- Financial: Annual and 3-year targets for revenue, margin, cash (or your top financial drivers).
- Cascade to role-level scorecards.
Give each role 3–5 KPIs they directly influence. Tie them to the financial vision and define targets. - Build the cadence.
- Weekly: Review team KPIs, call out blockers, agree on one priority move.
- Monthly/Quarterly: Review behavioral examples; recognize where the culture showed up (or didn’t).
- Rewrite reviews around behavior + KPIs.
Replace vague competencies with your behavioral list. Add each person’s KPI set with real targets. - Communicate 5× more than feels necessary.
Launch it, share wins, share misses, and keep tying actions back to the vision until the team can do it without you.
Quick diagnostic: The 60-second “vision fluency” test
Ask three employees (not managers):
- “What’s our vision—in one sentence?”
- “What’s one behavior we’re known for?”
- “What number are you responsible for every week?”
If you don’t get the same answers, you’ve found your first execution target.
Common pitfalls to avoid
- Too many KPIs: More than five per person dilutes focus.
- Behaviors that aren’t observable: If you can’t spot it in a meeting, it won’t show up in a review.
- One-and-done launch: Vision lives or dies in weekly conversations, not the kickoff.
Ready to turn your vision into an operating system your team can feel every week?
