Why a Strong Vision is Essential
A clear, shared winning vision provides direction, aligns teams, and drives performance. In commercial real estate, this vision is crucial for navigating market complexities and ensuring long-term success. This blog outlines the 7 easy steps to develop, communicate, and act on a vision that drives your company’s success.
Step 1: Identify Your Core Vision and Values
The Foundation of Success: Start by shaping a clear vision statement that reflects your company’s long-term goal. It should articulate where you want to go and also inspire your team. By aligning your vision with your core values, you ensure that every action taken moves you closer to achieving your overarching objectives. This becomes the foundation that all other strategies are built on, setting the tone for a purpose-driven culture.
Hartman’s vision is:
“We will retain our standing as a top-performing REIT by buying underperforming commercial real estate, creating value by improving the properties, and increasing occupancy. We will glorify God by being faithful stewards for all that is entrusted to us through the entire process.”
Helpful Tip: Your winning vision should reflect your company’s purpose and values. This should guide every decision, from property acquisition to tenant management.
Step 2: Unite Your Team Around a Shared Vision
Unity is Vital: Communicating your vision to your team creates unity to where everyone is on the same page. When your entire team embraces the vision, they work together toward the same goals. Holding regular meetings to discuss the vision, and involve employees in its evolution.
Helpful Tip: Ensure every team member knows how their contributions support the larger objectives for the company. This will give them a sense of ownership and commitment.
Step 3: Create Clear, Actionable Goals
Make Achievable Goals: Break down your vision into measurable and clear goals. At Hartman, our goals are clear such as buying underperforming properties, improving those properties, and increasing occupancy rates.
Helpful Tip: Set specific, achievable goals that have clear finish lines (e.g., acquire X number of properties each year, improve occupancy by Y% in 12 months). Track each goal’s progress and adjust your goals as needed.
Step 4: Focus on Performance
The Power of Transformation: Identify the areas that are underperforming or have growth potential. Focus on improving the areas with your company’s strategy when making changes, whether it is refining processes, enhancing your team capabilities, or optimizing your resources.
Key Tip: Use insights to find opportunities for growth or improvement. Regularly review different aspects of your business to align with your vision and make adjustments to strive to always be progressing toward your goals.
Step 5: Promote a Culture of Innovation and Adaptability
Adapt and Innovate: The world is constantly evolving. To encourage your team to continue to innovate and remain adaptable, you want to develop a culture that encourages them to continuously explore new technologies, market trends, and strategies that will improve your business or transform the way you operate.
Helpful Tip: Regularly invest in your team to continue researching and developing. Provide platforms for your team to contribute their innovative ideas. The desire to adapt ensures long-term success.
Step 6: Communicate Regularly and Have Transparency
Communication is Key: I have found transparency and communication key to progress. Sharing progress updates and your team member’s successes and challenges regularly is vital to success. This transparency helps build trust and keeps everyone aligned with the company’s vision. Your team should feel informed about the company’s progress towards goals, and any changes needed in their day-to-day strategy to fulfill the goals.
Helpful Tip: Use a variety of communication channels like newsletters, daily huddles, weekly meetings, or team calls to update everyone on key developments. This ensures that the vision remains a living, breathing entity within the company.
Step 7: Hold Yourself and Others Accountable
Accountability Drives Results: It’s important to hold both your company’s leadership and team members accountable for their roles in achieving the vision. Regular performance reviews (quarterly rather than yearly) and setting clear expectations are vital to push the momentum and ensure that everyone is on track.
Helpful Tip: Create a system of accountability that allows for constructive feedback, celebrating milestones, and addressing obstacles promptly. At Hartman we use quarterly scorecards and weekly one-to-one meetings so that communication is clear and both the team member and the management team.
Bringing It All Together
By following these 7 easy steps, your company will be well-positioned to develop a strong, actionable winning vision that leads to consistent growth and success. A shared vision helps guide decisions, fosters teamwork, and leads to better outcomes for your company, team members, and investors.
Start today by evaluating your company’s vision. Are all your team members aligned with your goals? Are your strategies focused on delivering measurable results? With a strong vision and unified approach, anything is possible.
