Disruptive times call for innovative business owners to focus on vision, culture and their value proposition, said a business consultant during last week’s Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in Las Vegas.

“There are seismic waves of change and fundamental shifts occurring," said Dirk Beveridge of Beveridge Business Systems, Inc.

These shifts include economic change, growing use of technology and a shift in the work force. By 2020, Beveridge says, “half of our employees will be millennials and so will our customers.”

And unfortunately most businesses today have “legacy thinking and inherent inertia so they do not change.”

However, with all this disruptive change business leaders have to ask themselves how to create a relevant business.

“Vision drives change,” he says. “Without clarity [in your vision] you have no change. It is easy to lose sight of your vision in the fog of uncertainty.” He says most business leaders get caught up in seeing that the work of today gets completed, when they should be looking at the bigger picture.

“You are in the vision business if you are a business leader,” Beveridge says. He defines vision as a future reality that you believe is possible and that can happen with commitment. He says business leaders must “build compelling stories about where they are taking the business.”

He adds, “You can build whatever you want if you imagine it and commit to it.” Once you have your vision, the next step is to get your staff together and say, “this is where we are going and it is your job to figure out how to get it done.”

“Without clarity [in your vision] you have no change. It is easy to lose sight of your vision in the fog of uncertainty.” - Dirk Beveridge

To be successful your value proposition has to be compelling. “You must stand for something as an organization. What are your brave bold points of view,” he asks. He also says that the change needs to take place in a reasonable time period. Determine your bold points of view “and get it done in 90 days.”

Every business needs transformational leadership, according to Beveridge “Individuals drive change, not companies. We need troublemakers in our companies who look at things differently. They know there is a better way.”

For business owners who are reluctant to begin the change process, Beveridge says, “decide to change, decide to lead and innovate and the how will reveal itself.”