The Oxford dictionary defines vision as “the ability to think about or plan the future with great imagination and intelligence”. In business, we often talk about vision as the north star, or direction we want to head. At some point in our launch journey, we likely wrote a vision statement as we thought about the future of our then tiny enterprise. We may have even added it to our website to make things sound more official. Perhaps we articulated it distinctly from our mission statement or maybe we jumbled the two, not being entirely sure of the difference in intent.
In our personal lives, many of us may have created vision boards by pasting torn out magazine images onto a piece of cardboard representing our goals. A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, and by seeing these images regularly, our hope is that they create a sort of program in our brains that will predispose us to adjusting our course in the direction we seek. Some of us may repeat affirmations with the same intent. Olympic athletes visualize themselves flawlessly completing their events in the hope that the physical world will match their imagination on race day. Vision is something we can clearly see, even if it is only in our minds.
In case this all sounds a bit too New Age for you, let me reassure you that there is actual science to substantiate these actions. According to Psychology Today, “a study looking at brain patterns in weightlifters found that the patterns activated when a weightlifter lifted hundreds of pounds were similarly activated when they only imagined lifting. In some cases, research has revealed that mental practices are almost as effective as true physical practice.” Champion golfers like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus rehearse shots in their heads many times over before ever hitting a ball.
I recently read “The Infinite Game” by Simon Sinek. Several years ago I wrote a blog on the importance of setting a vision for a small business and referenced Sinek’s landmark book “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action”. If you’re not familiar with his concept of The Golden Circle then I highly recommend checking it out. Sinek has long been a strong proponent of building business on the foundation of a strong vision and he took the concept one step further in his recent book. The premise of the book is that, unlike a football game where the clock runs out and a winner is declared, the game of business keeps on going. Businesses who live quarter to quarter are less likely to last than those built around a compelling vision. According to a McKinsey study, the average lifespan of an S&P 500 company has dropped from an average of 61 years in the 1950s to less than 18 years today. Let that sink in for a moment as you reflect on your own company because that is clearly less than the length of an average career. He argues that the strongest businesses are built around a “just cause” that truly rallies your employees and customers to action. It is vision that inspires passion. A just cause must stand for something that is affirmative and optimistic. It must be open to all who would like to contribute. It won’t be effective if it is linked to specific products or services. It must be for the primary benefit of others. It should be resilient enough to endure political, technological, and cultural change. Finally, and this may sound somewhat counterintuitive, it must be ultimately unachievable. This means that it must be big enough and bold enough to change the world.
In case you didn’t make the connection, a Just Cause level of business vision is linked to our Why, which is our noble purpose for being. It comes from our business origin story and is an inspiring and compelling forward looking statement that people are willing to sacrifice to see advanced.
So when businesses state their vision as being number one or beating their competition, they actually hurt innovation and damage trust because most of us question those kinds of statements. Despite how creatively you may be able to define your market segment to make it sound like you’re the best, this won’t get employees and clients to get excited about what you do. Sinek believes we have a leadership crisis in business. Shareholder supremacy when we prioritize short term profits over long term equity only became popular in the 80s. He argues that when we prioritize our employees and customers over profits will ultimately make for stronger companies. Being purpose-driven doesn’t mean simply donating to charities, as admirable as that may be. It means treating our internal and external stakeholders with respect and doing what’s best for them. We all know that happy employees lead to happier clients so this should not be a surprise, but seems to get lost as companies grow and face the pressures of delivering higher profits for their shareholders or private investors. Many companies have lost the focus on building equity and reserving cash to endure the inevitable down cycles and support longevity. Our focus on being the best in the short term has taken over.
But how do you not only write a vision statement that inspires, but lead a company with vision? Let’s start by getting a few things off the table. Your vision statement is not your business goals. It does not reference what you sell. It doesn’t talk about your competitors. It doesn’t drone on about the impact you have on this world.
Your vision also should not be too narrow in scope. Had the railroads thought of themselves as being in the transportation business, perhaps they would not have been overtaken by the automotive industry. Had the newspapers thought of themselves as being in the communications industry, perhaps they would not have been trampled by online media.
Even big companies have published bad vision statements. Here are a couple of examples:
- First from Netflix: “Becoming the best global entertainment distribution service. Licensing entertainment content around the world, creating markets that are accessible to filmmakers and helping content creators around the world to find a global audience.” First it’s too long. Second it’s too general–how can you define “best”? How does this actually differentiate them?
- And from General Motors: “GM’s vision is to be the world leader in transportation products and related services. We will earn our customers’ enthusiasm through continuous improvement driven by the integrity, teamwork, and innovation of GM people.” While it’s not surprising that the company made dominant in its industry by a man like Jack Welch would have a vision of being a world leader, using such generic terminology really doesn’t tell us what sets GM apart and it certainly doesn’t inspire us to drop everything and follow them.
Here are a few examples of really good vision statements. I expect you’ll be able to recite this first one by heart:
- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” That was the vision for our country when it was founded 244 years ago and people were, and still are willing to die for it because it is so powerful.
Here are a few more recent organizational vision statements to inspire you:
- “A world without Alzheimer’s disease” is the vision for The Alzheimer’s Association
- “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete.” Notice that Nike didn’t say anything about shoes in their vision statement.
- “Spread ideas.” That’s the vision of TED talks.
- “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” That’s the vision of Google.
- “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.” That’s the vision of Tesla.
These visions are all lofty, inspiring, and something people can really get behind.
When you’re building your own company’s vision statement, begin with a simple question. What do we believe, or what do we envision? This is a great exercise to do with your team and a pile of sticky notes. There are even some cool online tools you can use to do this if your team is virtual. Have everyone write down one or two words per sticky note that describe what they believe your company stands for and how they would like it to change the world. More is better at this point to get the brainstorming going. As your team is generating ideas, try to shake things up and ask challenging questions to inspire new thinking. When they run out of words, group the sticky notes into themes that emerge. Separate the ones that sound more like values since being honest, while an admirable company value, isn’t a “Just Cause” that people can get behind. Similarly, put aside the terms that sound more like business goals. What remains is your core. It should be a set of terms that articulate the difference your company is looking to make in the world. Use these terms to write your vision statement. Keep it short and memorable. It should be no more than a sentence or two and something that any of your employees will be able to recite without reading your website. Next, put your vision statement to the test. Is it optimistic? Does it benefit others outside of your company? Will it stand the test of time? Is it lofty enough to make you reach but perhaps never achieve it? If you answered yes, then you have your vision.
Writing your vision statement is only the beginning of creating a company that will last. Now you must build a culture of trust and honesty, even when it’s difficult. Your employees must feel respected, appreciated, and safe in their jobs. They must be challenged to bring their best ideas forward. And together, according to Simon Sinek, we must learn to measure our success against our just cause, rather than against our competitors.