The Vision Statement
A vision statement is a statement about where an organization sees itself within the next five to ten years, taking all its potential for accomplishments into account.
A vision is the dream picture of the business. Henry Ford had a vision of a car in every garage. Steven Jobs had a vision of a computer in every home. John F. Kennedy dreamed of a man on the moon, and Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently shared his vision through his famous “I have a dream” speech.
To visualize the future and then set up plans to make it a reality is a powerful motivational tool.
Dreamers are the saviors of the Universe.
JAMES ALLEN
Vision Guidelines:
1. Is the vision realistic?
Having dreams and turning them into reality is a major source of human motivation. Dreams give us hope for the future and build possibilities of meaning and fulfillment in our lives. Turning a dream into a clearly–defined vision requires that we think through all the possibilities, probabilities, problems, and potholes that might inhibit its full realization. Working through them in real time is an extremely powerful and liberating process that inspires great passion as the potential for a dream’s attainment becomes clearer and more apparent.
Questions that clarify a vision:
1. What business are we in?
2. What business do we want to be in?
3. What will our customers want in the future?
4. Who are our real competitors?
5. What are the external influences that can affect our success?
6. What are the internal influences that can affect our success?
7. Does politics influence our future?
8. What are the financial highroad possibilities?
9. What are the financial low-road possibilities?
10. Do we have a financial resources contingency plan?
2. Does the vision take all possibilities into account?
This question is all-important because it examines all the potential possibilities—both positive and negative—as a prelude to success. To be wise in your planning is of great value. Aristotle Onassis, the shipping magnet and billionaire who married Jackie Kennedy, was considered by many to be wise and prudent in the choices he made. He used a great analytical technique that explored all high- and low–road possibilities. When forecasting, predicting, and planning for success, he would ask his executive team a series of “what-if” questions. First, he would list all the what-if factors in the external environment that might influence the success of the plan. Then, he would turn his team’s attention to the internal environment of his business and apply the same technique, asking prudent and searching what-if questions.
Once this internal and external scanning process was concluded in the planning process, the Onassis team would carefully examine how their strategies, judgments, and decisions would impact the ongoing operational effectiveness. Time after time this method paid off handsomely.
There are many benefits to asking the what-if question. This approach, commonly know as scenario planning, allows a team to predict with some degree of certainty what actions need to be taken if certain events happen. It removes surprise, stress, and anxiety, and helps to rationalize decision-making by anticipating possible changes. It eliminates the rush to judgement that often occurs with unexpected blockages. Change then becomes a source of strength rather than a source of stress.
3. Is the vision a good fit for the culture, leadership, and style of your business?
From time to time, I will work with a company that has a new CEO or has merged with a competitor, and the need for a new and fresh vision is apparent. All too often the leadership team charged with making the change happen smoothly overlooks the need to consider different leadership approaches, cultures, and the differences in the style and pace of each business. Mergers are much more complex than the financial and cost savings synergies might suggest.
Synergizing systems and markets look good on paper but when cultures collide and leadership styles are incompatible—and a go-go business ties up with a slower, more formal structured one—careful planning is required to avoid catastrophe. The most profound vision in the world can be thwarted by insecurity—interpersonal conflict and hardened attitudes that form an underground resistance movement. Cleaning up the people issues is of paramount importance.
Stabilizing leadership styles and creating a unity of command are the keys to the fulfillment of a vision. Systems and structural change are quicker to implement through people-centered change. You can fire everyone and start fresh. You can achieve anything if you have enough money and time, and you are prepared to endure the wrath of shareholders. I would rather plan carefully, communicate effectively, and get people working with me to make the change —it’s less expensive and much more effective.
4. Is the vision aligned with the values and goals of the organization?
Albert Einstein believed that human beings, to realize their potential, must have clear standards of right and wrong. The most important human endeavor, said Einstein, is striving for morality in our actions.
Morality, said the famous scientist, is what gives beauty and dignity to life. Following our animal instincts is not enough. Without high standards of right and wrong, men cannot live together in peace and friendship.
A business that maintains its integrity—its ethical core—maintains its customers, staff, and profitability. Individual executives and teams should make every effort to work and live in integrity. Integrity, by definition, means an adherence to a code of moral and ethical values—the quality and state of being completely aligned; to be one, to be whole, not separate. Making a prudent choice to connect and be one with a higher path means that our thoughts, values, attitudes, needs, and beliefs must be one with our behavior; to be authentic and trustworthy. This is a tough call. Living in integrity is difficult to even comprehend for those who believe that the means justify the end.
Choosing alignment and integrating core values in business means making a conscious choice to be transparent; that company policies, procedures, systems, culture, communications, and structure are all congruent and reflected in daily behavior and actions. Integration builds an interlinking, internal strength that will stand the test of time.
That means that all the core values we choose, we live. That we are a product of our own voice, not a game player or a manipulator. It takes inner strength from the senior executive team to stay with what’s right and strength to keep to their word. It means honoring commitments. It is the strength to stay away from being deceitful, cheating, stealing, betraying, and speaking with a “forked tongue.” It is having an inner resolve that is based on respect and honor for ourselves, others, and the way business should be conducted.
In the final analysis, we are judged on the lasting differences we leave behind. To make a positive difference that echoes down through time clearly takes a higher path of doing business.