Season’s Greetings from National Truck League!  It’s an exciting time of year isn’t it?  I always look forward to spending time with family and friends over the holiday season.  Many memories will be created and good times shared at Christmas parties and various get together.  As the president of NTL, it’s also a time for me to reflect on what our organization has accomplished in the past twelve months.  I take a pause to step back from the day-to-day and look at the bigger picture.  I am really blessed and grateful for the NTL team that I get to work with on a daily basis.  This review includes looking through the lens of our company vision statement and values.  Our vision statement paints a clear picture of where our organization is heading.  Did we stay on that path throughout the year?  How much closer are we to realizing our goals and ambitions? National Truck League logo

Several years ago, our organization took the time to put together a formal vision statement as well as identify our company values.  This was an extremely useful exercise for us and something that I would strongly recommend for every business.  As a leader you may have ideas of where your company is heading and what your goals are but do the rest of your people share in that?  Not having a vision statement and values doesn’t mean your company will fail but I certainly believe it makes you less likely to thrive.  Our vision statement and values empower our people by providing them a filter in which to make decisions.  Not every idea can be pursued or every opportunity funded.  A vision statement gives a clear path for making decisions and keeps organizations on task and united towards a common set of goals.  It was our goals for everyone to feel, smell, taste, see the vision for National Truck League.  Our values also provide each one of our people with a guideline for conduct and performance.

So where do you start in writing a vision statement and values?  The organization we worked with suggested we start with what our company is passionate about.  At National Truck League we are passionate about protecting the trucking industry.  We are passionate about protecting our clients’ business and their families.  We are passionate about being professionals and educating the industry on risk management.  So that’s where we started.  You then need to identify where you are today as a company and where you want to be in the future.  Only then can you lay out a plan and vision of how to get there. The values that we came up with as a company to support our vision statement are Integrity, Customer View, Respect, Commitment to Improvement, and Loyalty.  Actually identifying our vision statement and values wasn’t all that difficult for National Truck League.  The difficult part is making the vision statement and values come to life and ensuring every individual in your organization understands and lives them.  When this happens you can accomplish great things as a team which is focused and moving in the same direction.

Does your company have a vision statement and support it with a set of company values?  If you do, does your whole organization know them and live them?  Are they published for people to see?  If you were to ask each person in your organization what the vision is for the company and what the company’s values are, do you think you would get the same answers?  Or would each individual give a different account?  If you asked one of your drivers, would they give the same answer as someone working in your office or on your management team?

When I take look back to look at what we have accomplished as a company in 2013 I will be asking, “How did this help us achieve our vision?”  And as National Truck League sets new goals and objectives for 2014 I will be asking “How do these goals help us achieve our vision?”  We have goals that will bring more value to you and your organization.

Have a great holiday and a Happy New Year!

About the Author

Rod Stiller is the President of National Truck League Insurance Solutions. NTL is a full service brokerage that is 100% dedicated to the trucking industry. National Truck League partners with the trucking industry to protect their trucks, their team and their profits. You can visit National Truck League’s website at www.nationaltruckleague.com

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