3
OPINION
Finding passion in your vision
O pen any business management book and chances are you’ll find a mandate for establishing a strong vision and mission for your firm – and for good reason. It’s crazy to set off on a trip without knowing where you want to go and how you want to get there. You wouldn’t do that in a car, so why would you do it with your business? To attract and motivate the best team, you need to be able to articulate your vision and the steps you’re taking to get there.
Brad Thurman, PE, FSMPS, CPSM
Too often, though, it seems like the terms “vision” and “mission” have been hijacked and diluted through the corporate realization process. It becomes a matter of course for companies – something you have to do instead of want to do. Something to hang on the wall and post to your website. But vision is a tricky business. Clearly defining why you exist isn’t nearly as simple as it sounds. Distilling thoughts into a succinct, cohesive statement that both delineates a vision and inspires action is a difficult task, regardless of how much you believe in your firm. It’s a hard, soul-searching effort, but when you find it, you know it. Instead of vision, I prefer a different word: passion.
To explain, I have to point to the defining goal of my childhood years – the moon. Speaking before Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy outlined a goal that was unlike anything his predecessors had set. He said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” Three months later, in a speech at Rice University, Kennedy elaborated: “We choose to go to the moon and other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Kennedy did more than establish a goal – he gave passion a voice. That passion was heard and felt by
See BRAD THURMAN, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER MAY 20, 2024, ISSUE 1538
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker