By Lisa Purichia
Partner, Director of Accounting & Retirement Plan Services
Email Lisa
Earlier this month, one of our clients, DK Pierce & Associates, Inc., treated us to a surprise visit from a service dog. This got us thinking about the kind of relationships they’ve built not just with Hoosier companies but with organizations across the country. In this sense, founder Denise K. Pierce is fulfilling her vision to “build a business that would eventually be recognized as the most respected U.S. consulting organization for complex medical conditions.” This broad goal started with the smaller steps of creating a positive work environment, providing clinical data and developing biopharmaceuticals, to name just a few efforts.
If you’re the leader of any organization, one of your most critical responsibilities is to have a vision for its future. It may sound obvious, but many leaders are so focused on dealing with the daily grind or rectifying past mistakes that they fail to sufficiently look ahead to their larger goals.
Assuming you do have a vision for the future, you need to be planning the steps necessary to make that vision a reality. Once that vision and process are in place, you must communicate them to your entire organization in order to have the best possible chance of achieving that vision successfully. As Denise K. Pierce, founder of the aforementioned business, said: “The key to success is surrounding yourself with strong partners.”
Most importantly, make sure your vision aligns with what your team members wish to see down the road. Create incentives based on reaching certain mile markers. To stay focused on the larger vision for the company, look into mentorship programs, online workshops and seminars tailored toward helping employees grow and see the “bigger picture” of what the company can become.
As we navigate the new year, this is an ideal time to focus on critical aspects of your operation — financial performance, expected capital expenditures, maintaining or increasing your workforce, market trends, changes to your culture, etc.
To establish or refine your vision, start by asking yourself: where is the organization today? Where do you want it to be in 12 months? What are the milestones necessary to get from here to there? The answers you come up with will lay the foundation for your vision and process.
A surefire way to avoid losing sight of your vision is to be transparent and open about it. Include details about it in the mission statement on your website. Put up posters about it in your workplace. This will hold you and your team accountable, and it will encourage clients to be honest with you if you’re not living up to that vision.
If you haven’t already, make sure you establish a vision for 2025 and beyond. Communicate it as clearly as possible to everybody in your organization so they can all help you achieve this vision. Don’t let the daily grind push this essential task away into the future.
This is where a lot of leaders fall down. Either they haven’t formulated a vision, don’t define the path to make it happen or fail to share it with the very people who can help carry it out.
The purpose of formulating a vision is to ensure that the future is an improvement over the past. That’s all anyone can hope for, professionally or personally. That is exactly what Sponsel CPA Group hopes for your organization in 2025.
If you need further help with crafting the vision for your company’s future, please contact us at (317) 608-6699 or email Lisa for assistance.