“Through train approaching, please stand clear”, announced the distinctly English-accented pre-recorded message.

“What does that mean?”, I wondered, then moved closer to the edge of the platform to peer down the tracks to see what was coming.

What met me was terrifyingly exhilarating.  It was ‘exhilifying’ to say the least.  Every other train that came to the Windsor platform stopped, but apparently not every train on this track stopped at Windsor.

This train was a ‘through’ train which meant it didn’t slow down as it passed through the station – it rocketed right through.  And rocket it did.  I have no idea how fast it was going, but what a rush to have something that massive, moving at that speed race past within an arms-length.

Wow.

Every other encounter with ‘through trains approaching’ was not as adrenalizing as this initial encounter because we now knew what to expect.  But adrenalizing they still were.  It amazed me how these massive machines could move so smoothly at such high speeds.

On another occasion we were on a bullet train heading to Tokyo.  The train had a little speedometer right in the passenger seating area.  300 km/hr.  The train was so smooth it felt as though we were going at highway speed in a luxury car.

What enables a machine of that magnitude to move at incredible speeds so smoothly?

The tracks.

Obviously you need the latest technology built into the train in order for it to travel effectively, but without good quality tracks it doesn’t matter how amazing that train is, it won’t be going anywhere.  Tracks are the key to enabling the train to do all that it is capable of.

The same is true for your organization.  It’s the tracks your organization runs on that enable you to conduct business effectively, efficiently and expeditiously.

So what are the tracks that will enable your organization to move forward?

Vision and strategy.

Vision defines who you are, why you are here, and where you are going.

Strategy defines how you are going to get there.

Vision sets the goal, outlines the mission, captures the heart and fires up the troops.

Strategy is the steps you need to take to accomplish the vision.  It involves processes, procedures, tactics, timelines, people and positions – it’s the mobilization of the troops.  It is the day to day pragmatic functions that need to be performed to accomplish the vision.

To a certain degree vision is like the ideal and strategy is like the real.  To mix metaphors it’s like the two pedals of a bike that need to be working together.

If all you focus on is vision you will have enthusiastic people who don’t really know what to do to accomplish the vision, and ultimately will not accomplish it.  If all you focus on is strategy you will get workers driving forward who will ultimately lose heart and passion because they don’t see where all this is going and why they do what they do.  We need both vision and strategy to effectively move forward.

And, if you don’t develop and communicate either vision or strategy then your train is not going to go anywhere.  It may look and sound good, but you are not going to accomplish much in the long term.

You will discover that you have your own propensity in your leadership.  And, you will discover that your people have their own propensities as well: propensity toward the real or the ideal; toward pragmatism or idealism; toward convergent thinking or divergent thinking; toward vision or strategy.

This is not a case of either or, it’s both and.  You need both.

You need the input of both kinds of people in your organization.  If you are a visionary, don’t get ticked off at the strategist who is always talking about implementation.  And, if you are a strategist, don’t get offended at the visionary whose head seems to be in the clouds.

Relationships built on mutual respect will hold you together – those are the railway ties to keep vision and strategy tracking in the same direction.  And, it’s communication that keeps it all in place – those are the spikes holding everything together.

Vision and strategy: that’s how you get on track.