“Most people want to know they’re working toward a goal that is concrete, important, and lasting,” says Joel Peterson, the chairman of JetBlue Airways and a Stanford business school professor. I caught up with Peterson recently to talk about the new, expanded edition of his bestselling book, The 10 Laws of Trust.
Specifically, we talked about one of the key attributes of high-trust leaders: the ability to craft and communicate a vivid image of what everyone is working toward—a common dream. Peterson suggests that leaders keep these six principles in mind as they create an overarching vision, mission, or dream.
1. Make your mission inclusive.
Articulate a purpose that brings multiple constituencies together: employees, customers, investors and communities. Find a goal that all stakeholders can rally behind.
2. Make your mission more than a mission statement.
“What companies frequently miss is that attempts at being aspirational and inspirational can come off as interchangeable and irrelevant—and in the worst case, can create cynicism,” writes Peterson.
According to Peterson, one way to create purpose that truly motivates teams is to make sure your key stakeholders have a stake in the process of creating the company’s mission. This reminds me a story I wrote about the successful revitalization of a Northern California town. City planners wanted everyone to feel as though they had a stake in the long-term vision. They held public workshops to get feedback from retirees, families, business owners, and developers.
When people feel as though they have a stake in the outcome, a mission becomes a shared dream and not just an empty statement.
3. Collect and celebrate hero stories.
“People tend to think inductively—from the specific to the general,” Peterson told me. That means leaders should use a specific story, example or anecdote to bring the mission alive.
For example, JetBlue collects stories of crewmembers who go the extra mile and offer extraordinary service to their customers—service the company would like to see others emulate. JetBlue shares stories like the the flight attendant who found Super Bowl tickets a passenger had left behind—and drove the tickets to the customer’s house—or the story of a captain who helped a passenger re-assemble a baby stroller after a cross country red-eye trip that left her and her baby exhausted.
“Members of high-trust teams love these tangible reminders of why they’re different,’ Peterson writes.
4. Replace an aging vision.
Keep your vision fresh. If it needs to be updated or re-written, do it. For example, Microsoft has expanded beyond its original vision of a computer on every desk and in every home. Amazon has expanded way beyond its original mission to use the Internet to transform how we buy books. Keep your mission fresh, relevant and vivid.
5. Think simple, but not small.
Peterson suggests that leaders pick bold goals that people will be proud to achieve. But keep it simple. For example, JetBlue was founded with a mission “to bring humanity back to air travel.” Peterson says that compelling visions give people an objective to move toward, not a vague problem to avoid.
I’m especially fond of an example Peterson reminded me of during our conversation. During World War II, Winston Churchill made the ‘V’ sign for victory when he was in public. In his speeches he would remind his audience of the one goal they had to achieve—in word, “Victory.” Bold and simple.
6. Expect to sacrifice to achieve great dreams.
Leaders build trust when their teams see that they’re sacrificing as much if not more than everyone else in the organization. Bonds between families and organizations grow when much is required—and much is given—by every member of the team.
Peterson’s theme is that high-trust relationships are happier than low-trust ones, and that applies to relationships among families and corporations. Creating and communicating a common dream is a critical step to achieving that trust.
According to Peterson, “When people can rally around a common goal, reaching for a summit that’s consistent with their values, they’ll sacrifice together, lift each other’s burdens, and do their utmost not to let each other down.”