Inauguration Day: Ushering in a new phase of your business
As the United States welcomes a new presidential era today, it may be time to have an Inauguration Day of your own. We’re nearly one month into 2021 and almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, driving business owners and leaders across industries to wonder what’s in store for the new year.
While the Biden administration steps into leadership amidst unparalleled political, social, public health and economic crises, how will you step into a new phase of leadership as well?
At Siren, we’ve been ushering in a new era of our own, with a clear vision of where we want to go this year and beyond. We’ve been applying our own strategic communication discovery principles and partnering with Phoenix Performance Partners (the org culture gurus in the midwest) to get there. Get started for your organization by reading the key steps in this blog post.
If a stronger culture, company growth, or a better reputation are top of mind for you this year, it’s time to make communication goals that will serve your company throughout 2021 and into the future.
So where do you start with your own “inauguration?” Here are three steps to launching a new phase of your organization:
1. Cast a vision
Warren Bennis once said, “Leadership is the ability to translate vision into reality.”
Before you can start working to make any goal a reality, you first need to cast a vision for the future. Take some time to sit down and start thinking of what kind of future you want for your organization with questions like:
- What problem in the world do I want to solve?
- What is my purpose?
- What is the purpose of our company?
- What kind of culture are we aiming toward?
Once your leadership team has a clear idea of what future you want to see at your organization, it’s time to bring your whole team with you. Hold a team meeting to share what your future vision for the company is, and ask team members to weigh in. What do they see that you don’t? What suggestions would make it stronger? How does each team member fit into this vision?
2. Identify barriers
After brainstorming with your team and determining the direction you want to move toward, it’s important to acknowledge your current reality before moving toward a new future. That current reality can illuminate the most pressing barriers in the way to realizing your vision.
Involve your team at this step. Gather (virtually or masked!) and pose this question:
What barriers are holding us back from reaching our future vision?
From budget restraints, to team capacity, to trust, to lack of social media strategy, there are countless types of barriers that can be holding your organization back from the culture, visibility, or influence you desire.
This conversation can get difficult, but it’s a hard conversation worth having with your whole team. If barriers remain invisible, how can they be addressed?
3. Build your goals
You’ve cast a vision for the future and identified barriers to getting there. Now is the time to create an actual plan to get there. You wouldn’t take an oath of office without having specific goals for the next four years- it’s vital as a leader to outline action steps and milestones to reaching the future you’ve envisioned.
Build your goals with your barriers in mind. If you already have company-wide goals, build out 2-3 specific yearly goals that will get you closer to reaching your larger goals. For example, if you want to gain a strong reputation in your industry but one of your barriers is lack of media exposure, a more specific goal could be to aim for media coverage in a major industry publication.
As you tie your goals for 2021 back to company-wide goals and vision, consider these two questions:
- What does the organization as a whole need to achieve in order to reach our vision (and/or company-wide goals)?
- What communication goals will move your organization to achieving its goals?
Ensure your goals are realistic while pushing you and your team to overcome the barriers you’ve identified. Goals should be identified with your team. Encourage feedback to make the goals as strong as possible at each step along the way. Goals are effective only when your whole team is committed to them.
We know this process is a challenging one because we’re going through it too! But we also know that we’re already seeing a stronger Siren on the other side. If you’re willing to do the hard work and have the hard conversations, you can build a pathway to a stronger, brighter future at the end of 2021 and beyond.
It’s Day 1 under a new president- could it be Day 1 of a new future for your business as well?
If this process has inspired you to take a bigger step in building out a clear communication strategy for your organization, contact us below! We can partner with your team to discover what your goals are, and create a detailed strategic communication plan that drives results.
