She's That Founder: Business Strategy and Time Management for Impactful Female Leaders

011 | Why Summer is the Best Time To Reset Your Business Vision & Strategy as Female Leaders (And Here's Why)

• Dawn Andrews

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Summertime's here, and you're ready to downshift and relax for a minute. But what if I told you there's a lovely window of opportunity open right now that could dramatically impact your day-to-day life and business results for the rest of the year? 

Most people wait until January to figure out their goals for the year. It's fantastic that you're making the goals, but if you've left it until January, you've missed the momentum that comes at the beginning of the year. You've put that "I'm rested and ready" energy into planning instead of jumping off the starting line with your plan already in place. 

In summer, our natural inclination is to take our foot off the gas. But I'm asking you to keep it there for a little longer because summer is the best time to reset your business vision.
Don't get overwhelmed - you know I'm firmly in the anti-hustle camp. So when I'm asking you to consider using precious summer hours to think about your business, there are excellent reasons behind that.

In this episode, I share

  • Why resetting your business vision matters 
  • The benefits of a vision reset 
  • How to do a vision reset
  • Tips for staying on track with your vision
  • Resources to keep you focused and inspired throughout the year

This episode at a glance:
[03:12] Why summertime is the perfect opportunity for a vision reset

[07:03] The telltale symptoms of a lack of vision

[08:27] The benefits of a vision reset

[09:45] How to make the vision reset process fun and easy (and what that means for left-brain vs. right-brain people)

[11:47] Five steps to create or refresh your business vision

[16:39] An exercise to help you define and visualize your version of success: the one step you need to turn a dry list of goals and actions into a vision that can inspire others.

[19:32] Tips for staying focused and on track with your business vision

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode

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More about the "My Good Woman" podcast
My Good Woman is a podcast for bold female leaders hosted by Dawn Andrews. I'm a happily married hockey mom, proud female leader, and founder and CEO of Free Range Thinking.

Grab a seat at the table with me each week for candid conversations with cul

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “My Good Woman” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

MGW EP 11 - Summer Vision

Hello my good woman. It's summer time. You're probably feeling ready to relax and yet a little antsy. The year has flown by and you may feel like you haven't accomplished as much as you wanted in your business. And if you're like me, you really want to downshift and relax for a minute. But what if I told you there was a lovely window of opportunity open right now? That could dramatically impact the course of your day-to-day life and business results for the rest of the year. 

Are you curious? Let's get into it.

Hello friends! Welcome to my good woman, the podcast for new and future female leaders. I'm your host, Dawn Andrews, a happily married hockey mom and the founder and CEO of Free Range Thinking Business Strategy Consulting. Grab a seat at the table with me each week for candid conversations. with culture shifting, glass ceiling busting, trailblazing women leading impactful enterprises.

We discuss what makes them tick, how they get it all done, and actionable strategies to help you lead with confidence and grow the visibility, reach and revenue of your business. We're classy ladies, but we don't bleep the swear words. Listener discretion is advised.

Most people wait until January to try and figure out their goals for the year. But by then, it's already too late. Not that it's not a good thing that you're making the goals, it's still a good thing. But if you're doing it in January, you've missed that wave of momentum that comes at the beginning of the year. 

You've put that, I'm rested and ready energy into planning instead of jumping off the starting line with your plan already in place. And then again, during summer, our inclination is to take our foot off the gas. But I'm asking you to keep it there for just a little bit longer, because summer is the best time to reset your business vision.

Now, please don't get overwhelmed, my good woman. As I tuck into a frosé and pommes frites. I want you to know that I am firmly in the anti hustle camp. Everybody talks about their hustles, their side hustles, having to hustle, extra hustle. I don't want to hustle. My greatest goal in life is to figure out how to be massively efficient so that I can work as little as possible. My constant pursuit is a highly profitable and impactful business with a 20 hour work week for me. 

I have yet to achieve it. But it is the lens through which I view everything that I do. So when I ask you to take a moment with me to consider using your precious summer hours to refresh the vision for your business, know that it comes from a place of wanting it to be fun, easy, joyful and that you'll still get it done. 

Here's why I'm a fan of using the summertime to refresh my business vision. You have more time to focus on your goals without distractions. I'm a mom, I have two kids they're out of school, there are definitely a few distractions. But not in the same way that I have when they are in school and business is fully popping. You're also halfway through the year so you may already have some momentum on what you're doing or a support team that frees you to use your thinking time in another way. 

Another reason I love using the summer to do this. Everyone's in a summertime mood. People are taking time off the overall pace of life slows. And that fun and relaxed summertime headspace can help inspire you to think creatively and take unique actions you wouldn't have time for during busier times of the year, you can get creative. So maybe it's the frozen talking, but I feel like I put less pressure on myself during the summer months. And if you're considering taking this ride with me, it's because, you know, you need to start making some changes. But where do you start? 

 So in this episode, I'm going to share why resetting your business vision really matters and is worth your time, the benefits of a reset, how to actually do the reset, tips for staying on track, and resources to keep you focused and inspired. Not only now, but throughout the rest of the year. 

 So let's talk about why resetting your business vision matters and it's worth your time. 

I really love this quote by Debbie Millman, the author of why design matters. She says, without establishing a direction, you can spend all day moving and never get where you want to go. This is what I mean by anti hustle, I don't want to mistake busy for productive. I don't need to be busy all the time. I don't need to be working all the time. I don't need 12 hour days. And the way that I avoid those is to be clear on what my vision is and then to base all of my decisions on that. 

Because your company vision is an imagined future better than the present you have right now. It's where you'd like to be one, five, or even ten years from now. 

Your business vision is your north star. And when you have it decision-making becomes more effortless, you save time, yours and everyone else's. Your business vision guides growth strategy, hiring, marketing, and sales decisions, operational choices. It's the reason why your company exists. 

But when was the last time you took a moment to close your eyes and imagine what that future looks like? 

If it's been a while, or if you feel like you're stuck in the day-to-day grind and not making progress at the speed you'd like towards your goals. You may be out of alignment with your vision or you just may need to refresh and reset it. The world and business change rapidly and your business vision needs to change too. I mean, my goodness, just look at the difference between 2018 and now. And this is your life we're talking about as well, especially if you're running your own business. 

Your priorities and what's important to you may have shifted, That also needs to be reflected in your business. A business vision reset can help you get unstuck, jumpstart growth, and find a renewed sense of purpose and direction. 

 I recently did a business vision reset with a company that I've worked with off and on for many years. They had recently gone through a huge period of growth and the founder was also looking at what their potential exit strategy might be. It turned out that the vision they had for the business was a small one. It kept the business, small, but it's not who they wanted to be, they wanted to go big. 

 Without a vision to guide them, it's really difficult to make the leap between the smaller business they had and the bigger business they wanted. The vision is what guided them in creating a roadmap and a pathway, and a way for everyone on the team to understand the territory that they were going to cover between where they were and where they wanted to be. And it kept them inspired, engaged, and involved instead of concerned and scared about the change.

 So why are we talking about this? What's in it for you? What do you get out of investing the time, your precious summer hours to reset your vision?

To answer that question, let's talk about what happens when people lose connection to vision. See if you recognize these symptoms. Without a clear vision there's a lack of focus and clarity on what's important. There's no longer a shared sense of purpose or direction. People become siloed and work in their own little worlds and do it their own way. Accountability and success measurements get lost in the day to day. There's a disconnection from the company culture and values. There's an overall feeling of stagnation. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

If they do it's because I think we're presently living this reality in our country. At best we have competing visions for what's possible. At worst we've lost the vision all together.

Have you ever seen schoolhouse rock? It was a series of educational, animated shorts on network TV that aired after school. I watched them daily, multiple times a day, honestly, and I memorized a lot of them growing up as a latchkey kid. One of my favorites was focused on the preamble of the constitution and how each word was carefully chosen and painted a picture of what was possible in our country. 

Sing along If you know the words, we the people in order to form a more perfect union. I'm sure you know the rest and if you don't, I'll give you the YouTube link in the show notes. But the bottom line is it was a powerful opening and the same goes for business vision statements. The best ones are clear, concise, and evoke emotion. 

 So, what are the benefits that you and your whole organization will get from resetting your vision? Unification. Imagine what it's like bringing people and departments together under one common goal, with a sense of excitement and possibility for what's to come. You get to renew your goals focus and energy. Because when you know where you're going and why it matters and what inspired you to make these goals in the first place? It's easier to build the business. Communication gets better because everyone is clear on what they're working towards. 

Accountability improves because now you have a way to measure progress and success. You can simplify and streamline what you're doing and when you refresh your vision, you're restating it again for your team as well to make them newly accountable. You also start to create a sense of ownership and buy-in from your team because they get a stake in creating it. 

Creating a clear vision, inspires creativity. It can help you and your team find new ways to serve your customers. Create a plan for growth and realign with your ideal customers and offerings. 

What do these benefits have in common? They all require human interaction, emotion, and connection. And that is something that we can all use more of right now. 

 I'm curious, little skirt over to the side. How are you feeling about this so far? Are you excited? Are you hopeful? Or if you're feeling overwhelmed, cynical, maybe even resigned. Let's talk about how to create your business vision or refresh it and do it with ease and joy. 

Building a business vision comes in two parts envisioning and communicating. I find both in myself and with my clients that people tend to have more ease with one or the other, but rarely with both. And it's the difference between being more right brain or left brain oriented. We all have access to both things, but one or the other might require more effort. 

 Additionally female leaders can sometimes get stuck when it comes to creating a vision for their business. Because we are constantly managing internal concerns like imposter syndrome and perfectionism. An external conditions like needing to prove our worth repeatedly. Under these conditions being imaginative, creative and visionary becomes nearly impossible. 

 And it's one of the reasons why women are considered to be less visionary. Why female founders are considered to be less visionary than their male counterparts. But that's a whole other podcast episode. Look for that one coming soon. 

It's time to let go of the need that we naturally have to want everything to be figured out.  And to give yourself permission to explore what might be possible. 

So I'm going to give you a choice for this summer reset. Which of these works better with your brain? Focusing on what you want your business to achieve in the next six to 12 months or focusing on the grand 10-year vision for what's possible for your company?

Depending upon how your brain works one or the other of those options is going to be more attractive to you. Pick the short term or pick the longterm and then we'll move on to the next step. 

 If you're somebody who loves the details and the roadmaps, the nitty gritty. The process I'm about to take you through will probably make you feel a little bit frustrated. But remember why we're doing it. Because people are moved to do their best work when they are inspired and buy into what the company stands for. And that happens through story, people connect through story. People buy the destination, not the plane. Though it takes the nitty gritty to get it done. We have to enroll them, excite them, help them see through story first. We're going to create or refresh your business vision in five steps. Step one, committing to the process. Two, getting out of your head and into your intuition. Three, asking yourself unusual questions. Four, finding your words. And five, writing it down and sharing it. So let's go back to the beginning. 

Step one. Commit to the process. 

Set aside time to be alone with your thoughts and feelings. We're talking an hour, maybe a bit more. And you can do this process and stages and sleep on it in between if you need to. This doesn't have to be an all day affair or something that requires days of prep work. But it does need to be scheduled into your calendar and considered important enough that you'll show up for it. If it does require other folks, a senior leadership team, for instance, to help you come up with the visioning, start with doing it yourself and then bring them into the process and basically repeat the steps that we're about to go through. 

 Step two. Get out of your head and into your intuition.

Some women have easy access to their intuition, some don't and there's everything in between. Building a vision starts with images and feelings rather than words and tactics. This is the envisioning part. Remember we talked about envisioning and communicating. We're doing the envisioning part right now and you may need to get out of your left literal brain and into your right creative brain to do this. 

 For those of you that are already a little more right-brain woo. You're going to have a good time with this part you're probably already doing some of this in your life anyway. But if this part is a challenge for you, if you're a little more left-brained, here's some ways to make it easier and more fun. And the examples I'm about to give you take into account a lot of different learning styles. 

Auditory kinesthetic visual, and any combo of the three. Here's some ways to get back into your intuition,  journal, meditate, go for a walk in nature, doodle or diagram. I personally love a good mind map. You can create a vision board for your business, both on paper or online. Listening to music, taking a long shower, taking a dance break, having a conversation with other people. 

When I started my business, creating a vision, both envisioning and communicating were difficult for me. I'd never done it before.  So vision boards or a mood board really helped me get my arms around what I was excited about, what I wanted to accomplish and who I wanted to work with. Images both online and off gave me access to metaphors. 

When I was finished, I shared the board and described why I chose each image. And those words became the starting point for the communication step that comes later. Okay, just sidebar. How many of you hoard Pinterest fashion boards for your summer vacation packing? I have, I think 2300 pins on Pinterest. I am pinning in all the time. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all that information but I love to pin things. Create a vision board for your business, it can help you capture the vibe or feeling you want to create. 

Step three, asking unusual questions.

Once you're in a creative head space, you need to ask yourself some unusual questions. One of the challenges of creating vision is that people try to aim themselves directly at it. It's sort of like trying to see the tip of your nose, the harder you think about it and the more you try to land the statement straight away, the more elusive it becomes. And it's tough to create a vision statement when we ask ourselves grounded questions, like, what do we want our revenue to be? Or how many markets do we want to be in? 

All those things matter. Don't get me wrong. They 100% matter, or you don't have a business. But when we're talking about vision, we're talking about that ideal imagined future. And though revenue is part of that, it's not the main thing. It's not the thing that mostly moves people. 

Here are a few questions to send your mind in a different direction. 

What are you passionate about? What are you personally passionate about? And as the founder of your business and the leader of your business, what is the business passionate about? What's the ideal future state of your company and how would people feel interacting with you? What's the ideal outcome? And what role in the world do you want your company to play? Who do you want to be to the world? Especially the world we're in right now. 

 Unusual questions help you stay away from logical linear thinking and allow you to move into creativity, emotion, and metaphor. 

Which leads us to step four. Finding the words.

Now that you have some images and feelings either because you've collected them and gathered them, or because you've described them. It's time to add words and define and envision what success looks like. 

Okay. All my left brain people, all my detail oriented people. You're going to want to start creeping in with revenue targets, new markets, new product launches. Or even internal goals like increasing employee satisfaction or improving communication. Hang on to that for just one more step before you let loose. 

 Let's do a quick exercise together. This is the culmination of all the gathering that you've been doing up to this point. Pick a future date, either the 12 months at the beginning or the 10 years that we started with at the beginning. Now close your eyes and imagine a champagne moment when you're surrounded by your team and celebrating. 

You've raised a glass. Everyone is joyful and dressed in their best. Where are you? Where are you physically at that moment? Why did you gather? Who's there with you? What achievements are you celebrating? How does everyone feel? What are you most proud of? 

 Now that we've gone through some of those questions, Watch the movie of your champagne moment then open your eyes and jot down some of the details. Tell the story, add in the specifics. This is where your left brain can start to kick in.

When I did my first champagne moment, it read like the driest to-do list ever. Even I was uninspired after I read it. It was a list of tasks and strategies. And even though I knew what they meant, I knew where they could take me. It's still just left me feeling flat. 

 When I started to think about it, like one of the books I used to read to my kids. 

Then it got really interesting. I started to turn into my own hype person. I started to hype myself up. Because as I added in the details, the color of the dress that I was wearing, the lighting sconces in the room that I was standing in and added in the five senses, I was inspired. It made me excited. 

The final step is the most important one, but it wouldn't be possible without the four steps that came before. 

Step five. Write down your vision and share it repeatedly so you can polish that story.

When you share your vision, people should get excited and inspired. Keep polishing and sharing. Be brave when people's eyes glaze over and they will. Notice where you lose them and continue to refine it. Where people break down with this vision process is that they're focused too intently on getting to the one-liner. The, you know, to make everybody happy, to capture the world's memories and share them. 

And you will get to that one liner, but you got to go through the story to get there. If you try to focus your attention on getting it down to seven words or less, you lose the juice of the orange. You kind of run over it with a car. Everything that makes the vision. Uh, sweet and exciting gets pressed out. 

Summertime, in the pool at the beach or at the barbecue or perfect low stress times to test this out. Everybody's had a cocktail or two. Everybody's just relaxed and enjoying themselves. So you can feel a little bit bolder or braver or a little less intense about sharing it and polishing it. 

But you will know that you've nailed it. When people who don't work for you become excited about what you're doing. So you've done it. You've created or refresh your business vision.

How do you stay on track with it? Here are a few tips.

This is literally what I've done with mine. Post it. Write down your business vision. Either the story or the one-liner. Or create a visual and refer to it often, keeping it top of mind will help you stay focused on what's important. 

Next roadmap it. Use that left brain power to create a business plan with your team that outlines your goals and how you're going to achieve them. And when you're going to check in on them, map it all back to that vision statement. 

Continue sharing it. Delegate tasks implement systems. So you're not doing everything yourself and continue to keep people excited about what you're doing. People stay connected and invested when they have skin in the game, find ways for other people to start sharing it. 

 Celebrate it. Take the time to celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small, because celebrations are the fuel to keep everyone motivated and invested to keep going especially when things get difficult.

And finally support it. As a founder, as a business owner get support from other business owners, a business coach, a mentorship program, a mastermind program. Share your vision with more people to keep yourself engaged and excited. Just like I was my own hype man with my champagne moment story. Sometimes it's really easy to lose sight of why we do what we do and sharing it is what keeps it alive. 

We've talked about what a business vision is why it matters how to refresh it. What the benefits are of having a clear vision, how to do it, and how to stay on track with it. Here are a few resources that I personally use and recommend that will help you stay focused and motivated. And you can find all of this in the show notes.

I am a huge fan of the five minute journal. This elegant little book helps you focus on your goals and stay connected to what matters most to you and gives you five minutes in the day of gratitude. I've used it off and on for several years now. It gives me hope when I am feeling low. It builds and amplifies the excitement when things are going well. It's been really wonderful to be able to look back on the pages and see how far I've come. 

 Finding in articulating your purpose can easily put your head in a spin. The best book I have found to guide you through that process is true purpose by Tim Kelly. It's what I use along with the exercises I've shared with you today to put me in the right head space before I do this visioning work. Sometimes you just need to be able to clear all of your concerns and objections before you can do this. And Tim's book really helps make that possible. 

And then if creating in a community is your jam and you need support with the visuals. I am a big fan of Cindia career and Dr. Cricket, Winfield's living vision board manifesting course and community. It's a literal book. that you use to write, draw paint, collage and build your vision. Where are my manifestors out there? If you're somebody that sees yourself as a manifestor. The living vision board process is a great process for you. 

And then of course I would be remiss if I didn't share my favorite resource. Maybe you've tried these visioning exercises before, but they just didn't resonate with you. I have the solution for you. We've created a business vision workbook that we use with our clients to help them with setting or resetting the vision for their companies. 

Our business vision workbook will help you get clear on what's possible for your business and how to share that vision with your team and clients in a way that inspires them to take action. You can find more details about it in the show notes. 

So I hope as you recline under that umbrella in a comfy lounge chair with a frosty perfect skinny margarita. That you know how extraordinary you are. How incredible is it? That we have the privilege to be in this conversation about vision. That you have built a business that requires a vision or a vision refresh. 

How amazing is that? That we get to spend this time talking about an imagined future, a possible future, better than the one we have now. We need so much more of that energy in the world right now. Take a moment, as we get into this relaxed summer headspace to invest just a little bit more in your possible probable amazing future. 

 I'll see you next time my good woman.

Thank you for joining me this week to view the complete show notes and all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. Visit my good woman.com. 

And I have a question. Are you looking for a way to take your business to the next level? Do you want to inspire and motivate your team? The business vision workbook can help. This workbook is designed to help business owners imagine a bold future for their business and find the words to share it. You'll be able to create a clear and compelling vision for your business that will excite and engage your team. It's easy to get started and see results quickly. Download the business vision workbook for free@mygoodwoman.com forward slash business vision. 

Or find a link in the show notes. And before you go, make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you can receive new episodes, right. When they're released. Thank you again for joining me, Dawn Andrews and this episode of my good woman. I'll see you next time