You can’t always get what you want.
But if you try sometime, you’ll find.
You get what you need!
The Rolling Stones, 1969
Motivation Needs More Than Metrics
It is nothing short of amazing, but also unsurprising given the normality of it, that even C-Suite leaders of enormous capability and achievement often struggle to clearly articulate what they want, personally, professionally, and for their organisations.
Many go straight to the details of their dashboard: turnover, EBITDA, cashflow, quality standards, and employee engagement. Great obviously (love a measure), but NO ONE ever got out of bed inspired to achieve anything just because of achieving one of those.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, on the other hand, didn’t just lay out a policy doctrine with associated metrics. It presented a vibrant and emotionally charged vision of an aspirational but somehow attainable future. His capacity to evoke urgency and possibility inspired people to extraordinary action. It still does.
Inspiring With a Vision Takes Practice
When senior leaders take inspiration from great speakers to develop and communicate a compelling vision and narrative, they’re able to fundamentally shape organisational commitment, culture, and performance. Vision and narratives serve not merely as slogans but as powerful, strategic compasses guiding both leaders and teams toward shared goals and sustainable success. Leaders are expected to speak to this vison, fluently, frequently and easily.
That’s not always easy in practice. In fact, it’s one of the common goals leaders enlist The Preston Associates coaches to achieve. How to communicate vision from the elevator version through to the keynote speech, the all hands, and the pitch to investors. Leaders need the understanding and flexibility to deliver this consistent message in the way it needs to be delivered in the moment at hand, with skill and elan. That starts with a compelling vision.
Compelling Visions Spark Action
At its core, motivation is energy used to do something you might not wish to do in the moment. A genuinely clear vision of what success looks like reduces the need to withdraw from your motivation bank account in those choice moments in exchange for a compelling view of the future. This effort is even more powerful when the vision evokes not just the picture, but the feeling of that success.
By way of a personal example, this year I competed in the Lapland Arctic Ultra. A winter 185km non-stop ultra marathon in Swedish Lapland within the Arctic Circle crossing Europe’s last great wilderness. It is what you would expect from such an event. Cold, lonely and a relentless grind in many ways. Interspersed with some of the most beautiful scenery one might ever see.
To endure it, I set myself a clear vision of success.
Sure, there were some metrics. Finish in less than three days, with all my fingers, toes, nose, and everything else for that matter. But that WAS NOT my vision for the finish. The race has a tradition of an end of race selfie like the one below of Eva Zu Beek’s impressive finish which captures very well the sort of finish I wanted.
[Photo Credit: Callum Joliffe/Lapland Arctic Ultra]
I wanted THAT and importantly pictured in my mind that type of finish as my vision for success.
People, applause, maybe a beer, a post-race selfie like that one to frame for my office next to the heaviest race medal in the world (this is true). What is that going to feel like? Sore feet, tired legs, hollow stomach, a yearning for the feeling of heat on my face as I sit in an overheated room for the first time in days. Calls and texts with friends and family. And, if it’s your thing, ‘likes’ and comments on the ‘gram.
Picturing that vision is what got me through those moments when my supply of motivation had dwindled. When I had been awake for 24 hours, spent 95% of it alone, mostly in the dark, hungry for real food and wondering while I didn’t just play padel with the rest of the Cotswolds.
There is also another vision. That of quitting. Having to get a snowmobile out. Having to explain. Waiting for flights back home and knowing you had failed in what you set out to do. Perhaps after great cost, effort, and sacrifice. Unpacking unused gear and uneaten rations at home. At the right moment that is equally as motivating.
This scales.
When leaders articulate a compelling vision, they offer their teams clarity about where the organisation is heading, why it matters, and what success feels like, energizing everyone to pursue and achieve extraordinary results. As Simon Sinek says, “A compelling vision inspires and motivates people to go beyond their current capabilities and achieve extraordinary results”. And, “Effective storytelling allows leaders to convey not only the ‘what’ of their vision but also the ‘why’ the underlying purpose and significance behind their goals”. These need to be rich engaging stories and ones that people can see themselves in. Not dry soulless metrics that for many if not most, they just won’t care about, let alone go to extra effort to achieve. Stories that serve as the engine, not the end goal.
As it turns out I did not get the finish I wanted. I finished at 3am. I was met by a (very kind and congratulatory) lone race volunteer. He took my race finish photo on my phone. Just me. No crowds, no applause. I didn’t appear on any of the race social media coverage. Not a beer in sight.
But by then not achieving the complete vision didn’t matter quite so much. It had served its purpose. I’d finished, raced well, and met my metrics by a good margin. The vision got me there.
As you hone your vision for yourself, your people, and your organisation, make it rich and inspiring. Communicate it consistently and well.
You might not get what you want. But you’ll get what you need.
Christian Cullinane, with over 24 years of experience in diverse range of technology focused FTSE 250 organisations and industries including defence, telecommunications, aerospace and equity funded IP based start-ups, is an Executive Coach at TPA.
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