David Iwinski Jr. starts every meeting at
Acusis by restating the company’s
vision, mission and values to make sure that his 840 employees understand them and
live them each day. This helps them to understand the company, where it’s going and
what it is trying to do, Iwinski says.
As president and CEO, Iwinski says it is
also critical that he understand these areas.
If leaders do not completely understand
their company’s vision and mission, they
won’t be able to execute it well, he says.
“It’s sort of like going on vacation without
a map,” Iwinski says. “You’re almost always
not likely to go anywhere interesting.”
Having clarity about mission and vision
has helped Iwinski grow the medical transcription company into the dominant
player in its industry since it opened in
2001. The company, which has operations
in India and the U.S., has grown revenue
nearly 96 percent since 2004 and anticipates 2007 revenue of about $16 million.
Smart Business spoke with Iwinski
about how narrowing in on vision, mission and values can help you grow a
company.
Q: How do you create vision, mission
and values at a company?
It needs to be a consensus. The senior
leadership and the board of directors
need to jointly sit down and talk about
what they’re committed to. Examine
what’s the company’s long-term commitment, what part it plays in the market space and what’s the best way to
get there.
If there is not agreement, it’s important to figure out which of the visions is
going to dominate and see if everyone who
disagreed can be brought over to approach
that new vision.
Write it down and talk about the problem
until you believe that you have clarity. Ask
people who were originally in a different
direction if they can clearly, forcefully and
passionately articulate the new view. When
they can, there’s a pretty good chance they
get it.
Q: How do you incorporate vision, mission
and values into the company?
It’s like a waterfall. Organizations will come up with a vision, develop a mission
that will express how they intend to accomplish it, and then start to develop a set of values to reinforce the mission and vision.
But if you stop there, these statements
won’t be put into practice and will become
nothing more than a public relations exercise. The day-to-day task is never tied back.
The team needs to develop the next step
and the next step of corresponding direct
actions. Make sure that the tasks you tackle are directly connected to the dreams.
Q: How do you share the vision, mission
and values of the company with your
employees?
The main thing is communication. All of
the subordinate means — e-mails, phone
calls, etc. — are enhanced after face-to-face communication. Executives have to
spend time with their team and get that
face-to-face contact.
If the CEO and team are not crystal clear
about what they want to accomplish, there
is no way they can effectively communicate it. Reconnect with the message so that
you understand it and believe in it deep down. Only when you believe something
can you speak with clarity, passion and
precision.
Craft a strategy that communicates the
message, reinforces it and updates it. Start
with getting everybody on the same page,
but you can’t assume people will remember it, so you have to recommunicate.
Q: How could other leaders bring these
values into their company?
Simply say them out loud. Just brutal, nonstop repetition and always
putting them front and center.
Be a model of them, and create
opportunities to show that you live
them and just not say them. If your
own model of behavior is not consistent with your expectations, there’s no
way you’re going to get what you’re
asking. If you want your team to be
creative, you have to be creative. If you
want them to be hardworking, you’ve
got to be the same way.
Hire people intentionally to bring
those values into the organization,
sort of like planting seeds. Values are
better if they are inherently strong in
the person, and skills and talents and
experience are very learnable and can
often be assimilated quickly.
Promote and speak the message, live
and demonstrate the message, and
bring in new talent to advocate the
message.
Q: How does focusing on the mission,
vision and values benefit employees
and the company?
It helps them have a clear guideline to
measure, evaluate and prioritize their daily
tasks. If you want an organization that has
good alignment, what you’d like is that when
everyone sits down in the morning, they all
understand that it’s all in service of a very singular core vision. What’s more valuable than
people’s time, attention and intelligence?
It also keeps the organization from straying. Having this clear vision helps filter
what not to do and keeps leaders from
being tempted by something that looks fun
and short-term but doesn’t apply.
HOW TO REACH: Acusis, (412) 209-1300 or www.acusis.com
