What's your Vision?

I recently attended a workshop about the process of Strategic Planning. The process begins with the creation or review of the Vision / Mission / Values statement.

By basic definition a company's vision is what they aspire to become - the desired future state of the business. People often confuse a company's vision with it's mission, but while the vision is a "big picture" statement, the mission outlines why an organization exists, its specific tasks or goals.

Today I want to talk about Vision. Your Vision is the foundation of your brand. It also provides your staff with a sense of purpose and the promise of a future.

If you don't have a clear vision, you can create one by answering a few questions.
Ask yourself where do I want this company to be in 15 years? What impact will we have had on the world? What does a typical day in my company look like in 15 years?
Don't just ask yourself these questions, ask everybody with a voice inside your business. Once you have the answers, your vision will come from the common theme (don't worry, there will be one).

There are really two types of Vision Statements - the self fulfilling, or the impact statement. Neither is wrong, but I'm a big fan of impact statements. I believe it is more inspiring to have a vision that states the effect you want to have on the world.

The company I grew up in had a self fulfilling vision - "To be the dominant supplier in the industry" (not an exact replica, but you get the idea). Our company manufactured insulated wall panels used to construct Refrigerated Warehouses and Food Processing Plants. Now, 15 years later, I wish that our team had created a vision that stated "Food chilled or processed within one of our facilities on every plate in North America, every meal of the day". The latter statement is a more specific description of our desired future state, and gets me a lot more jazzed than the former.

If you don't already have a strong vision statement that clearly outlines your desired future state, drop everything and create one. You will be amazed by the difference in your people once they know where the ship is headed.

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