Sharing a big vision drives better decisions.
Have you heard the famous story of Sir Christopher Wren and the bricklayers?
In 1671, while building St. Paul’s Cathedral, Wren walked through the construction site and asked three bricklayers what they were doing.
The first replied that he was laying bricks, because that was his job. The second replied that he was building a wall. The third replied that he was building the most beautiful cathedral in the world.
Each of these perspectives is valid… But you can imagine how each worker might act differently based on what they believe they’re doing. A decision that makes perfect sense to one might be incomprehensible to another.
It’s Not About Who’s Right
In a small business with more than one leader, it gets even more complicated. Now you’re not just making your own day-to-day decisions – you’re impacting others.
Imagine a father-daughter team running a service business.
The father strongly values customer relationships. With his history in the business, he knows how important a strong reputation is. When a customer calls with a difficult request, he does whatever it takes to make it happen.
The daughter has a different approach. She knows how much time can get sucked into accommodating special requests, and how they impact the bottom line. She wouldn’t dream of doing all that extra work without charging a premium, so when she prepares the invoice, she doesn’t think twice about including a standard fee for that custom job.
The client ends up frustrated and confused.
Neither of them was wrong. Both perspectives make sense. But because they were misaligned in their approach, the company looked messy and unreliable.
Three Things to Keep in Mind If Your Business Has More Than One Leader
1. Share your vision.
Invest some time and energy to make sure you’re all clear on what you’re building. Are you trying to maximize profitability? Create a legacy? Expand to multiple locations? If each leader is building a different version of the future, daily decisions will keep clashing.
2. Go deeper on values.
It’s not enough to say you value “customer service” or “efficiency”. It sounds nice, but those words mean something different to everyone. Drop the fluff and get into what it actually means in your workplace, how you’ll use them to make decisions, and what you’ll do when they clash.
3. Make a playbook.
Your business thrives on consistency. It’s no good giving a customer an incredible experience if they can’t expect the same level of service every time they come back. Create standards across the company, document them, and have everyone commit to them.
This Week’s Takeaway
A company vision isn’t just nice website copy.
Whether you call it a vision, mission, purpose statement, or core values, getting the leadership team aligned on the big picture makes your business stronger. It brings consistency to your brand, clarity to your team, and trust from your customers.
You’ll build your cathedral faster when everyone understands what they’re working on.
Radical Candor: By Kim Scott
If you’re in a leadership role, or even just trying to be a better teammate, Radical Candor offers a straightforward, experience-based approach to navigating the tough parts of management. It’s important to be honest at work without burning bridges, and this book is all about caring personally while challenging directly.
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