How can you craft a realistic and inspiring vision statement?

?? The essence of defining your purpose goes beyond just a statement; it's about embedding a meaningful foundation into your organization's DNA. ?? Purpose Essence Purpose is an organization's core. It transcends profit, focusing on societal or environmental impact. ?? Strategic Alignment Ensure your purpose aligns with your strategy, making it actionable and integrated. ?? Purpose Evolution Understand that your purpose can evolve with societal and market changes. ?? Defining purpose is dynamic, needing introspection and alignment, inspiring and propelling your organization toward tangible impact.

The company's vision provides a roadmap for where the organization wants to go in the future. It sets the direction and objectives for the entire organization. Without a clear vision, it's easy for teams and individuals to lose sight of their purpose and the overall goals of the company.

It's difficult if is not emotional and sincere . Most of the time the HR Department hires some to write a couple of lines without onterview or knowing what ate the issues, goals, and destination. A vision must be fundementaly responsive to companies questions, identify key issues that stakeholdets/emoyees are questioning. It must make people happy, and make people have a reason to go to work.

True Leadership is formed / based on an inherent understanding of the practical application . A sense of empathy and wellbeing is projected by a great leader. The best leader engages at all levels and his mental agility should extend beyond expectaion - thus earning respect every day. More and better business is built on trust & caring than dictatorship and pride. Don't work for the money! Work to help others make the right decisions.

For me, the fundamental question we should always be asking ourselves as senior leaders is 'is this something I believe in?'. Anything that falls out of that remit, when you truly, honestly answer that question should be cast aside. From there, there are two more critical questions we should ask ourselves. "How can I make a difference in this area" and "Who do I need to work alongside to build something that is truly disruptive that can shape the solution to the problem" Identifying something you want to change is important. Understanding how you can influence that change is key. However, knowing you cannot do everything on your own, that is the secret that all true pioneers understand.

So how to we set about defining vision? We need to understand there are different perspectives that we have to establish within our goals. Some people will tell you that vision should be granular and specific. Others that it should be grand and ambitious. The truth is you need both. If we get to lost in the minutiae, if we never take that step back to see the sheer breadth of potential there is ahead of us, then our thinking remains limited by our proximity to the problems we face today. Yet, if we spend too long gazing at the horizon, lost in dreams of tomorrow, we'll never get by closer to where we need to be. We need to be able to shift gears and that is a skill that is absolutely worth developing.

I've made the experience that, instead of creating something completely new, it's worth looking at the company's history & what made it unique in terms of purpose & achievements - and then thinking about what could be the next chapter in this book. By going this way, you can still think wild and re-invent the business model, but the resulting vision is grounded in where the business comes from. This not only helps to find the existing assets which are also relevant for the future; it also makes it much easier for people to join in on the new vision and allows for them to contribute.

For me, vision involves painting a picture of your destination when your purpose has been achieved. In some cases this will be an actual point or place that can be reached potentially, whereas in other cases it may be a guiding light that you are always trying to get closer to, but can never truly be reached. Either way, that destination or point in the distance that you are striving to reach.

Lets be honest...... How many times do you ask yourself as a company, person or community "what do we do?" Understanding WHY you exist, and what the benefit is, to yourself, the community or the customer is the first thing to isolate before you can ever identify your vision. once done, it's a lot easier :)

Do you know your strengths? Honestly? I think many reading this will say yes, and rightly so as we will naturally lean towards them as our career unfolds. However, do you know your weaknesses as well as you know those strengths? Can you honestly be critical of your self in a non-judgemental way? Because if you can, if you are able to see where you need support, to achieve the vision you are seeking to execute, then you can start to build opportunities. Whether at the personal level or the corporate level, you can guarantee that the gaps you have in your skillset can be filled by those whose own specialities leave them in need of support where you are strong. Embrace the ecosystem and you will find a rich seam of opportunities.

Vor einigen Jahren habe ich zur Evaluierung der eigenen St?rken den Strenghts Finder von Gallup genutzt. Das Online-Assessment hilft dabei die eigenen fünf Toptalente herauszufinden. Das fand ich damals sehr hilfreich!

Opportunities is easy... we listen to the negative voices. Everyone knows what's wrong... what we do poorly, how we fail. flip it on it's head, there's the opportunities. easy. But - as people, as companies, mostly as teams, we are cataclysmically useless as recognising our strengths. This is the case of allowing our brains to go somewhere that isn't comfortable... perhaps... yes, perhaps... we're good at something, but dare we ever say it out loud???

So how to we communicate this vision? There are a million ways that we can communicate, but if we strip everything back we can arrive at two words. Integrity and Honesty. If you believe in your vision, and you have identified how you can play a role in establishing it, then simply keep these two words in your mind as you communicate and others will follow.

Your vision statement can reflect and be described by any of the senses i.e. what you will see, hear, smell, feel, know, etc. when you reach your destination. Spending on your vision, one or more of these may be more powerful for you than the others. Equally if you can describe your vision using more than one, then it may appeal more strongly to a wider audience, especially as we are all influenced by different things.

Killer point here!!! DON'T DO IT ALONE With the influences in our lives it's easy to come out with the thundering voice in our head, best fitting to a a-list movie trailer. But get someone else to read it and it'll come across as stupid! Your Vision must be universal i.e. sounds inspiring in any head!

A vision statement most of all has to be tangible. High level disconnected messages will not help to rally employees behind your vision. It must be a vision statement that people can and want to connect with and identify themselves with. It should ideally include a "we" or "I" to help employees seeing themselves as part of the vision and the future and with this driving the vision to success. At <company> we help ... At <company> we create ... where I can ... <company is all about ... where I / we can ...

I think the first step is to radically simplify. Squeeze the words, get rid of jargon and buzz words, make the words smaller and sentences shorter. After your simplify the words, test it. Start with people who are blunt, and even a bit critical. If you pass their test find people who aren’t subject matter experts. If you can explain it outside your field you may have made it simple enough. Lastly, if you as the scribe or author can’t say it backwards and forwards off the top of your head, it is still too complicated and not memorable enough. Simplify it one more time and test again.

So how do we know if we we are outlining our vision effectively? We talk. We talk to the CEO and we talk to the intern. We talk to our 9 year old kid, and we talk to our 90 year old grandmother. If anyone is getting lost, we need to strip out the jargon that creeps into our language all to easily and revisit what we are trying to say. If you can't simplify the concept down to a simple one or two sentences that are universally understood, you've over complicated things. Of course, you'll need to have the answers to questions ready and have pulled apart your vision from every single angle. But in that first moment, that crystalisation of your idea, you need to make it as straightforward as it can be.

It is not permanent,. It will not outlast the vision Visions change diarise and update, regularly. it gives you a good reason to re-communicate your story; and people love a story :)

For me, this stage requires laser focus on the audience who we are looking to serve, otherwise we risk trying to appeal to everyone and everything when our business is aiming to serve a particular group only. So, by all means, talk to the kid next door if the kid is an example of our target customer/stakeholder group. But talking to the kid next door is of less importance if our target group is pensioners or people who train dogs for a living, etc.

If you got your first step right, and your purpose is very personal to you, then this is easy as it merely involves being yourself. However the opposite is also true - so if your purpose is something you made up, that you thought you ought to do to win more customers, and you don't truly believe in it then people will see and feel the disconnect between what you say and what you do.

A vision statement focuses on the future of your organization. It aims to create a representation of what success entails for your organization. Imagine where you aspire your organization to be, in the 5, 10 or 20 years. What are your desired accomplishments? How do you aim to make a difference, for your customers, employees, community or even the world?, it also needs to be realistic. You want your team to feel motivated, not overwhelmed, so make sure your vision is achievable.

One should keep in mind that complex vision statement would dilute its weightage eventually and becomes more difficult to cascade and buy stakeholder interest, so the statement should be short and crisp without compromising the core values which propels the best interest of the company. More we make vision simpler, short and effective, more the benefit we obtain.

I think an Important aspect of a vision statement is feelings. A big part of what pulls us and motivates us to achieve is how that will make us feel.. Joy, peace, connection, contribution. Etc....

Clarity & Simplicity: articulate the purpose in a concise manner. Inspiring Language: Convey a sense of purpose & passion. Alignment with Values: vision aligns seamlessly with the organization's core values. Future Orientation: vision as a forward-looking statement. Realistic Ambition: Balance optimism with realism. Inclusivity: of various stakeholders Impactful & Memorable: leaves a lasting impression. Adaptability: business environment can change & the vision should be flexible enough to accommodate shifts while maintaining core values. Customer-Centric: organization aims to add value to their lives or address their needs. Authenticity: Align the vision with the organization's history, competencies & unique strengths.

To craft a realistic and inspiring vision statement, start by understanding your organization's unique strengths, core values, and long-term objectives. Engage stakeholders in the process for diverse perspectives. The statement should be forward-looking, encapsulating where you aspire to be in the future. Make it concise, clear, and memorable, avoiding jargon. Ensure it's ambitious yet achievable, striking a balance between inspiration and practicality. It should resonate with employees and customers, aligning with their aspirations and values. Regularly revisit and revise the vision statement to reflect evolving goals and market conditions, keeping it relevant and motivating.