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A PROGRAM OF THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOUNDATION
 

IOM Blog

July 31, 2019

“Have you told them?”

That question was a reality check. I was working with an international business consultant who happened to live in my community. He asked me for my vision for the chamber of commerce where I had just become CEO. I explained my vision with passion and enthusiasm. What I wanted to accomplish, by plans and audacious goals for the organization. He responded with the question wanting to know if I had shared this vision with the chamber team or was I a parade of one.

From that discussion, I got busy. I wrote a two-page explanation of what my vision for the chamber of commerce how the community will identify us. Not just platitudes of levels of success but focused more on what our members and customers would say about us based on their experience with us. How the members would brag about being involved with us. How the members would respect our organization and pro-actively recommend membership to their business associates. How government leaders came to us to work with them on their issues they wanted to work on in the community. I shared my passion for the organization. I printed it and placed a copy on each employee’s desk. The reaction was better than I expected and revealed a lot about the team I was hired to lead.

Some came to my office saying, “I’m in, let’s go!” to let me know they bought into the vision. Some did not respond at all. It was easy to see who was going to help the chamber succeed and who was showing up and not much more. Knowing who you can count on is vital to succeed in your organization vision becoming a reality. That exercise saved me a lot of time figuring out how we would get to where I wanted to lead the organization and who could be a part of getting us there.

Does your team know your vision? Does your team enthusiastically support your vision? How do you know? How will you find out? Get busy writing.

Avatar photo
Bob Rohrlack, IOM,CCE
President and CEO
Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce

Bob Rohrlack, CCE, serves as the president and CEO of The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the voice of business for the Tampa Bay area. Since 2009, he has led the Chamber’s mission to “serve our members and enhance the community by building business success,” overseeing the daily operations of the Chamber.

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