Hoover's #4 Key to Successful Enterprise - Clarity of Vision

Takeaway

If people can't understand what you are saying, where you are wanting them to go, then you can't be an effective leader

Don't use jargon and assume that others understand what you are saying

Gary Hoover, former entrepreneur-in-residence at McCombs' Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, pinpoints eight keys to building a successful enterprise based on his 35+ year career experience, including three Fortune 500 companies and four of his own start-ups (Bookstop and Hoover’s Online were his). 

Key #4 is Communicating with Clarity of Vision
Can any third-grader understand your vision, or are you trapped in double-speak, alphabet soup and jargon? If not, then you run the risk of confusing people or making them feel stupid.

Hoover says executives from many Fortune 500 companies use jargon that people don't understand, including the executives themselves. It's no wonder they don't have a clue what to do. The whole idea of leadership is to bring people together. You do that by making sure people understand what you are saying. Hoover's rule, when you have a new business idea, is to make sure your grandmother or any reasonably bright sixth-grader can understand it.

 He's never seen a venture capitalist that was insulted by the fact they could understand what you were talking about.

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Mentioned in this Article

Gary Hoover

Entrepreneur and Mentor Hoover's World

Gary Hoover, former entrepreneur-in-residence at McCombs School of Businesss, began his entrepreneurial journey at an early age. He grew up in...

About the Author

Gayle Hight

Special Projects Marketing Manager, aka Texas Enterprise's "The Connector", McCombs School of Business

With a BS and MBA degrees from UT Austin, and on McCombs' staff for the past 15 years, Gayle knows UT.

She is staff writer and special...

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