Learn To Create the Big Picture
The big picture, bigger than you, bigger than me, is where we are heading. The big picture allows you as a leader to show purpose and where each person fits in to your bigger plan.
The big picture is a huge motivator for your team, bringing reason and purpose into what they do. Working towards a goal, and understanding the part you play in the goal, is great.
What Does Winning Mean?
In rugby, a win with tries and kicks is often considered a better win than if you win on kicks alone. A win on kicks alone means that you have likely played a defensive game and been lucky to score some kick points. Whereas a game won on tries requires some well executed strategy, some risk taking, and being the better team.
In the world of business, playing defensive is sticking to what you know and not testing out new ideas and strategies. Staying defensive will make you obsolete faster than you realize, so while you may win the skirmish, you will likely lose the overall battle.
While playing for tries, testing out new strategies, and innovating will lead to some short-term losses, it’ll lead to long term wins as you surpass your competition.
People Get Stuck!
People get stuck being busy and can’t see the big picture. They follow the same patterns, thinking it is the only way, almost like a horse with blinkers.
In these situations, a leader needs to come in and shed some light on the situation by sharing the big picture and where they fit in.
Share your vision, share the goals, and help them to understand what they are working towards.
Get Your Team to Buy In
One question many leaders ask is how to get their teams to buy in to the bigger picture. The first step is to share your big picture, share the details, share the plan, and most importantly, share the why behind what you are doing.
After you’ve done this, here are a few other things you can do:
- Market your products to your staff as if they were customers. Get their feedback, help them to understand your products, and find out if they would buy it.
- Put a course together that helps your team to understand your vision, your why, and your products. The better they understand your business, the more a part of it they will feel.
- Shadow other team members. Having team members shadow each other for a few hours can help them to understand and respect each other’s roles. Understanding how each team member fits in can help you to better understand the picture and how you can support other team members.
Do all three of these periodically to ensure everyone is up to date and staying in line with the big picture.