Who is dancing with you?

We live in a high innovation and entrepreneurial age with start ups popping from everywhere. We have lost count of the number of start ups that are launched on a regular basis. In Uganda where I come from, we happen to be one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world. Nine out of every ten Ugandan are able or have ever launched a business. The success rate is a matter to be discussed another day.

I am privileged to work with out of school youth who are full of brilliant and amazing ideas. Many of the youth we work with drop out due to lack of tuition or parental guidance and it is amazing what they are able to do after eight weeks of empowering them to think outside the box while boosting their esteem and confidence in the process. I am constantly astounded by the dazzling ideas and ventures that these young people come up with in such a short time. Many have launched their own businesses and are employing fellow youth while others have started social ventures that are transforming their communities. There is definitely no doubt that this generation is one of a kind.

In my experience of working with start ups and entrepreneurs, I have found a common pattern that often hinders their ability to scale up. Many entrepreneurs have these great ideas that they set out to implement and as much as they are driven by their passion, they often forget to sell their vision to their internal customers- the staff team. The key to sustainable enthusiasm and motivation is having a conviction about the things you are doing. It is important to have your team buy into your vision such that it ceases to be a job but rather an adopted culture, a way of living.

In order to get people to dance to the tune of your vision, you will have to play it over and over in their hearing until it becomes a recognizable tune amidst the noise and life demands screaming for their attention. It is not enough to have a strong brand, you need to match it up with a strong organisational culture which involves helping people adopt the vision of the organisation as their individual ambition and pursuit. The louder you hum your vision, the more engraved it will become on the hearts and conscience of your team.

The bottom line is that people want to buy into visions that are bigger than the visionary. Your vision needs to be bigger than yourself and able to have a life time impact for people to want to dance to that tune. If your vision is about transforming lives and communities, it also happens to be the most craved tune in the hearts of people all over the world. Shout it, write it, brand it, sing it, hum it and the music will simply never stop. Let the world dance to the tune of your vision!