"The very essence of leadership is [that] you have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet" (Hesburgh, n.d.).

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In our organization, any change that carries from concept to completion via a successful company-wide rollout requires 2 crucial ingredients: vision and sustained execution.  Before discussing the strategies we will employ for sustained execution, it seems appropriate to discuss the groundwork for the project itself – the vision.  While some project leaders may create a vision focused on the desired end result, doing so will rarely move any laggards or opponents to action.  As Simon Sinek (2009) discussed in his TED Talk, people do not “buy” (or buy into or adopt) what you’re selling – they buy why you sell it.  Ergo, we will start with why and move outward from there. 

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This statement and vision is necessary because we spend most of our professional lives in “the whirlwind” (McChesney, C., Covey, S., Huling, J., 2012).  The whirlwind is essentially the urgent “noise” in our day to day vocations.  It consists of all the tasks we have to complete for our normal job functions plus all the urgent problems that arise frequently, seemingly out of nowhere.  This metaphor is fitting as many in corporate America know, because it figuratively sucks a person in and drains all his/her energy in the process.  And most, if not all, projects fall by the wayside in the midst of this whirlwind.  Execution does have a hand in project failures, and execution can be fixed with the right 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) approach, but not without the right vision in place.  After all, why would an overly-worked line employee go out of his/her way to execute as part of a change in which he/she does not believe?

 

The vision statements (why, how, and what) for this project are essentially the same as those that govern my career.  Each is focused on an urgent problem – new employees are by-and-large unable to adapt to the position in a timely manner, leading to excessive stress and high turnover.  Indeed, in the why statement below, using the term “quickly and painlessly” was intentional because quite the opposite occurs today.  As stated in the plan itself, millions of dollars are at stake because we lack that quick and painless transition process.  The statements will certainly reach the heart of individual in our organization because most (if not all) have gone through a process that was slow versus quick and painful rather than painless.  It evokes feelings buried in the past – feelings that will drive us to prevent poor experiences for new employees of the future.  The work will be tough but the “why” will drive us to get it done, in an effort to lay a legacy that will be widespread and invaluable.

 

Why – We aim to find innovative ways to bring new adjusters from their initial insurance experience to a sustainable proficiency as quickly and painlessly as possible, which empowers them to provide excellent service to our internal (employees) and external (policyholders, third parties, other businesses, etc.) customers.

 

How – We know experience is the best teacher when it comes to our industry so we look to use technology to observe or encounter those experiences as early as possible, by way of recorded video, flipped classroom, and/or live streaming video.

 

What – As we are in the service industry, our twofold goal is to provide phenomenal service to our internal customers, who are then able to serve our external customers; the increase in adjuster skill and ability can be observed through a review of internal and external surveys already distributed.

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References:

 

Hesburgh, T. (n.d.). Leadership thoughts: Quotes on vision. Retrieved from: http://www.leadershipnow.com/visionquotes.html

 

McChesney, C., Covey, S., Huling, J. (2012). The 4 disciplines of execution. New York: Free Press.

 

Sinek, S. (2009). How great leaders inspire action. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action