Vision: The Forest and the Trees

What is a Vision Statement?

A vision statement is a pithy description of what you want your business, organization, or life to look like, if you actually achieve your goals. It is a snapshot of the future. Many people work at making their businesses successful, but, at best, have only a fuzzy idea about the future. Sure, they want more clients and more income, that’s success, right? But, too many people never really sit down and map it out. As they say, ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.’ Where are you going? What do you want your business future to look like? It’s time to dream a little. What realistic, satisfying future can you conceive of that will get your juices flowing? That is your vision statement. The vision of my practice is to:

Become the Premier Wealth Manager in Our Market

Sound familiar? It’s the tag line for this blog. Now, I don’t necessarily want to become the biggest. And, certainly, I’d like to be the best. But, there is always someone out there who might be a little bit bigger, or a little bit better. Being the best is something to strive for, yes. However, it is not my primary objective. I want to be the exclusive, boutique, go-to practice for the most affluent clients in my area. I want joining my firm as a client to be the equivalent of getting accepted into the most desirable club in town. If you are with Senior Partners, you have arrived. No one does it like them.

Everyone knows that a glass ceiling can throw a wet rag on even the most ambitious person. Your advisors and support staff have desires and goals, too, and they hope to achieve them through your firm. Without a vision statement, they are forced to operate under a glass ceiling of ambiguity and failure. A vision statement removes the glass ceiling. It is a breath of fresh air for those suffocating in a job that has no future. When your team understands your vision, they can navigate for themselves, and carve out a future of their own.

“Without vision, the people perish.” – Proverbs 29:18