Strategy. Innovation. Brand.

Vision statement

When Will We Have a Vision?

I’ve heard many executives try to answer questions about vision. The responses tend to be wordy. Perhaps the speaker meanders a bit. That’s unfortunate because a question about vision is often a plea for help.

Here are some questions you might hear:

  • When will we have a vision?
  • What’s the vision?
  • When will you clarify the vision?

If the question comes from a junior employee, I’m inclined to take it at face value. The questioner just wants to know about the vision.

On the other hand, if the question comes from a more senior person – especially a person who manages other people – it may have a different meaning altogether. The question is not so much when we’ll have a vision but:

  • When will we have a vision that I can (easily) explain to my employees?

The person may well understand the vision (in general terms) but doesn’t feel comfortable explaining and defending it. The question is actually a plea for help.

You could, of course, answer the question and explain the vision. But you would miss the opportunity to convert the person into an ambassador for your message.

If you answer the question literally, you’ll give information to one person. If you can create an ambassador, on the other hand, you can amplify your message and deliver it to hundreds of people. Moreover, your messengers will be trusted members of the local environment. That’s often much more powerful than hearing the same message from an executive who works thousands of miles away.

How do you create ambassadors? There are at least three steps:

First, make them feel like part of the team. Someone who feels they’re off the team, won’t convince others to join. How do you make

Oh, I see.

Oh, I see.

people feel like they’re on the team? Include them. Ask their opinion. Listen. Treat them with respect. Say “thank you”. It’s not so hard to do but it does take time and requires some thoughtfulness.

Second, simplify the message. You’re trying to put words in someone’s mouth – more or less literally. It’s easier to put a short message in someone’s mouth. Long messages tend to get filtered and edited in unpredictable ways. Short messages are more likely to survive intact as they pass from one person to another.

Third, repeat the message. And ask others to do it as well. Your target audience will need to hear the message at least half a dozen times before it sinks in. Even if you think it has sunk in, don’t stop delivering it. Take a hint from Coca Cola. We all know what Coke is but that doesn’t stop the soda giant from continuing to deliver the message.

Once you create ambassadors, be sure to treat them well. More people will hear your message from them than from you. That means you can use more of your time to do other things — as long as you can keep your ambassadors on message.

Improve Your Vision (Statement)

Several clients have recently asked me to help them craft their vision statements. So, what makes for a good vision statement? Let’s

My vision is improving.

My vision is improving.

start with a few of my favorites:

Google: To organize the world’s knowledge and make it useful.

Lawson: We make our customers stronger.

University of Denver: A private school dedicated to the public good.

US Air Force: Fly, Fight, and Win.

Denver Public Schools: Every Child Succeeds.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS): A World Free of MS

What can we learn from these? Here are a few pointers:
  • Keep it short — no more than a dozen words. You want it to be memorable. 
  • Put customer requirements first — too many vision statements start with what the company does. In my opinion, that’s a mission statement. The vision statement summarizes your impact on your customers or the world at large.
  • Know the difference between mission and vision. A mission statement is more about how we do things. A vision statement is about what happens to the world when we do those things.
  • Use the “so what/ so that” process to get to ultimate benefits — start with a statement of what your company does. Then ask yourself, “so what?” Answer with a “so that” statement. Repeat the process until you get to a logical conclusion — that’s probably the benefit you want to focus on. So, let’s say you provide services to hospitals. You start with:

We provide world-class services to hospitals…

So what?

…so that hospitals will be more effective …

So what?

…. so that hospitals can save more lives.

  • Imagine end states, even if they put you out of business — the vision statement of NMSS is, “A World Free of MS”. When we achieve that, NMSS will no longer be needed.
  • Verbs are good — I like the US Air Force statement: four words, three of which are verbs. Active verbs (and actions in general) are memorable.
  • The verb “to be” is not your friend — it’s lazy and verbose. None of my favorite statements include it.
  • Ditto for the verb “to strive” — in your vision statement, don’t strive to do something. Just do it. (Where have I heard that before?)
  • It’s not just words, it’s culture — you can develop elegant phrases but, if they don’t fit your culture, you’ll just create cynicism.
  • Live it —  it’s good to write a statement, it’s better to have it absorbed into your employees’ hearts, and minds, and actions. The only way to do that is to set the example and live the words, even when it’s painful to do so.
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