Your family and employees depend on your strong leadership skills to help guide and provide a motivational environment for them to come together and make your company a success.

The biggest test to see whether you are a good leader within your company is to take a long hard look directly into the success of your company.
Hint: The success of your company is a direct reflection upon your leadership skills—so are you rating yourself as “good” or “bad”?

To ensure you are an even more effective leader within your company the first step is to make sure your company vision statement is clearly written and understood by all employees. A vision statement is critical to being able to effectively lead an organisation. Without a vision statement, it is impossible to give clear direction to accomplish what your company needs in order for it to be successful in the way you wish to define it.

When you sit down to write the company vision, follow a logical methodically (The Alternative Board has a great process called Strategic Business Leadership Planning) and write this so it is also in line with your personal vision of why the business was set up originally. If you can, we would encourage you to ask your employees to participate in the writing of the company vision statement. This gives them a real sense of contribution to the company and the knowledge that they play a key role in its success.

Here are a few questions to keep in the back of your mind while writing your company vision statement:-

• Is this vision statement reasonable?
• Is there a geographic aspect (how big do I want this company to be)?
• Is this attainable?
• Is this inspiring to all audiences or stakeholders?
• What is the level of quality I want to provide?

Your next step—and one that many business owners overlook—is communication. The company vision statement is your way of communicating, the shared journey and goals for the company both in the short- and long-term, to all employees. Regular and consistent communication enables them to see how their hard work and your leadership both play vital roles toward that vision. As a leader you should inspire your employees to live this vision every day and establish the vision as a key component of the company culture. One way to make sure colleagues know and live the vision statement is by walking around and discussing the vision statement content, intent and commitment. If they know it and believe in it, all will be rewarded in the long term.

A strong vision statement is your first step towards strengthening your ability to effectively lead your company.

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