The presentation by Ed Kless at Sage Summit focuses on creating a shared vision in small businesses, emphasizing the importance of core beliefs, mission, and aspirations. It discusses the modified seven S model and the principles that underlie an effective shared vision, including strategy, staff, skills, structure, style, and systems. Kless encourages participants to reflect on their contributions and commitments while providing guidelines for defining their company's purpose and vision.

1. Creating shared vision in a small business
Ed Kless
GN-25
Wednesday, July 29th, 11:45am – 12:30pm
@edkless

2. 2
#SageSummit
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3. How? vs. What matters!
How do you do it? What refusal have I been postponing?
How long will it take? What is the commitment I am willing to make?
How much does it cost? What is the price I am willing to pay?
How do you get those people to change? What is my contribution to the problem?
How do you measure it? What is the judgment I need to make?
How have other people done it successfully? What do we want to create together?

5. Strategy Staff
Skills
Structure
Style
Systems
Shared
Vision
The Modified Seven S Model

6. Strategy Staff
Skills
Structure
Style
Systems
Shared
Vision
Shared Vision

7. Shared Vision Fundamentals
• Principles (aka Core Beliefs)
• Purpose (aka Mission
Statement)
• Vision (aka Aspiration
Statement)
– aka Courageous Goal
Shared
Vision

8. Principles
• Founding beliefs of your company
• Answers the question “What do we collectively
believe in?”
• Should rarely change
• Usually between four and eight words or
statements
• Internal vs. external

9. Principles (cont.)
• Examples
• Customers first, Velocity, Do the right thing, Innovate, Make a
difference
• Ensure quality of life balance
• Acting with integrity, truthfulness and an open line of
communication
• Work collaboratively as a team, understanding and drawing on
each other’s strengths
• Have raving fans for customers

10. Purpose
• Usually composed of three parts
• What do we do?
• Who benefits from what we do?
• How do we do it? (optional)
• Answers the question “Why did I come to work today?”
• Should be easy to memorize
• Can sometimes change

11. Purpose—Examples
• To help make it easier for our customers to manage their
business processes
• To improve the business success (what we do) of our clients
(who benefits) by providing superior business systems (how
we do it)
• Improving the success of our team, our clients and our
partners.

12. Vision—Courageous Goal
• BHAG
• Clear and concise with little room for interpretation
• Should take three to five years to achieve and be difficult
and daring
• Must be aligned with your purpose and principles
• Should change when achieved
• Can be quantitative and qualitative

13. Aspiration – Courageous Goal
What are you deeply
passionate about?
What can you be
the best in world at?
What drives your
economic engine?
BHAG

14. Courageous Goal – Examples
• To be recognized as the most valuable supporter of small
and medium sized companies by creating greater freedom
for them to succeed.
• Crush Adidas
• A computer on every desk and in every home
• To increase revenue per employee to 250,000 by December
2018

15. Creating shared vision in a small business
Ed Kless
GN-25
Wednesday, July 29th, 11:45am – 12:30pm
@edkless

16. 16
#SageSummit
Questions?
• Send any questions you may have about this session to the
following email by August 15:
@edkless
ConferenceSessions.NA@sage.com

17. 17
#SageSummit
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@edkless
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Session code: GN-25
Session title: Creating shared vision in a small business

18. Creating shared vision in a small business
Ed Kless
GN-25
Wednesday, July 29th, 11:45am – 12:30pm
@edkless