One of the first things I recommend that a new manager do is to create a vision of success and share it with the team. As Mark Runta says in his post, a vision will help you "establish yourself as a credible leader".  A glamorous and catchy vision statement may get your team's attention but it's what happens after that will determine whether they truly buy into it.

One year at our annual January training and strategy meeting, our VP laid out the goals and objectives that he wanted the team to achieve. Not only did he ask us to make some very aggressive revenue and profit targets, he challenged us to go above and beyond those numbers. He promised us that if we made the stretch targets our lifestyles would change and we would celebrate 'someplace warm' the following year.  His comments generated excitement and buzz throughout the organization. Unfortunately, that 'lifestyle change' never materialized. The team delivered the results, but the VP ran into organizational road blocks that prevented him from from delivering on his promise. In spite of stellar business results, our team morale was at an all time low. That manager was never able to gain back the credibility he lost.

When sharing your vision of success with the team:

• Ensure that you have control of any promised rewards or have received the necessary executive approvals
• Make your vision something that will stretch your team but is still achievable
• Translate your vision into actionable goals and make those goals a priority in your organization