There are studies showing that 75% of people believe that sight is the most important sense because it is the main sense that gives us information, data and insights that help us understand and react to the world around us.
In the work that I do with leaders, teams and organizations, some common themes that I am asked to help improve on are; communication, perceptions and culture. While it is true that communication or lack of, can and does create perceptions, what we see, expect to see or rarely ever see, all impact how we view others.
That being said, I started researching the term 20/20 vision and was surprised to find that it doesn’t mean perfect vision, but it is a description of visual acuity. You can do your own research on the details of what this means, but to keep it simple, it is the tool/technique that the medical profession has used for years to determine how well we see the world around us.
2020 vision is being able to read the letters on the chart (one eye at a time) down to the red line from 20 feet away means that a person has vision and can read most or all of line 8.
In the far right hand column of numbers are the descriptors that define the ability of the reader to see. Reading to the third row or 20/70, the test subject sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 70 feet.
I think the visual acuity principle applies to organizations as well. Being unclear in organizations is costly, wasteful and can cause employee dissatisfaction.
Let me try to explain.
There are many different types of people on the planet, just as their various types of vision, perceptions and perspectives. This variety can create HUGE challenges for leaders who are responsible to clearly and effectively commu-nicate the Mission, Vision while living out the Values of our organizations.
In my opinion, what organizations need the most is to have a cohesive and aligned leadership team. To become effective and aligned means that everyone in leadership needs to have 20/20 vision acuity about the things that matter most. The whole leadership team must totally buy-in to the Mission, Vision and Values of the organization. NO EXCEPTIONS! This creates a horizontal alignment and cohesion that becomes the foundation or rails the organizational change/train will run on.
Senior team cohesion also helps create a vertical alignment that can be felt all over the organization. Once this occurs it reduces organizational confusion and negative perceptions while simultaneously improving and clarifying communication, expectations and role clarity. This ultimately increases performance and results. (see sample vertical alignment model)
Alignment/visual acuity is one way to create employee engagement, employee satisfaction and buy-in. This often creates the characteristics and cultures of the best places to work. Higher Ground works hard with leaders and their teams to improve trust and make it safe to share perceptions and feedback from anywhere in the organization that improves commitment, ac-countability and of course results. This is the equivalent of providing the proper corrective lenses or contacts to the organization so that everyone sees and buys in and supports the Mission, Vision and Values.
So What? This alignment/visual acuity is the ROI that organizations need and want to help them accomplish their strategic goals that lead to staying on mission and behaving/modeling the values that make them unique.
What are you doing to become a cohesive team member and to work hard to bring clarity to those around you? Imagine what could happen if your senior team became aligned? If you are ready to take the next step in your align- ment journey, call Darrell and get to Higher Ground to improve your view, your perspectives and your organization.
Recently I asked people in my network to share their opinion of what Hind-sight is 2020 means to them. Here is one example of a response:
“The first thing I think of is “regret”. As in “had I only known I would’ve done it differently.” So the consequences of hindsight is what you’re left with when you didn’t take time for foresight.”
One year from now, what kind of hindsight will we have? Will we regret that we were not more focused and intentional? OR will we use foresight to help us get on the right trajectory and accomplish our goals?
