Success in Business Series: The Place for Vision in Successful Business

We are still going on with our series of Success in Business articles, this is our third piece. Please read on and leave us your comments.

1.???Introduction

A vision is a description of something (an organization, corporate culture, business, technology, and act) in the future. It is also an important pre - requisite to your business strategy. Once an organization is clear on its mission (raison d’etre) and has decided on the values that are important to them, the next step is to pick a time horizon (long enough to avoid constrained thinking) and articulate where they want to be by then.?It is after this that they must choose a way to get there (strategy), and usually in smaller time chunks. As an example, the vision horizon could be 15 years, but the strategy horizon is typically 3-5 years.

Karl Albrecht, a management consultant defines a vision statement as an image of what the members or people of an organization aspire for it to be or become. It is an aspirational statement made by an organization that articulates what it would like to achieve. Indeed, it is not just businesses that benefit from setting a good vision. Some of the much talked about legends of achieving rapid national prosperity such as Singapore and Dubai credit much of their success to having visionary leadership that set a vision that they follow or build on to this day. Closer to the home of Stratex, Kenyans refer proudly to their Vision 2030 crafted in the early 2000s. Most citizens and observers recognize the extent to which this created a coherent view of the future that has helped focus and inform the agendas of several 5-year government regimes since with arguably reasonable success compared to the years where no vision had been articulated. ???

Who requires a vision statement, you might ask? Well, it is important to note that all types of organizations, big or small, start-ups or well-established, need a vision statement because this acts as a guide on the destination to reach and some broad thinking on which route is best to use.

2.???Is a Vision Statement Really Necessary?

Why does a business need a vision or a vision statement? Here we give you a short list of some of the reasons.

·????????A vision statement acts as a unifying force of all stakeholders, helping align decisions, resources, and everyone within the organization, to ensure they are working towards a single purpose hence having a positive impact on organizational effectiveness. It also helps Investors and others who show interest in the business to better understand the purpose of the organization.

·????????A vision acts as a reminder and gives a sense of hope for organizations during the tough times, acting also as a guide and framework regarding which opportunities to accept and which ones to decline.

·????????A vision helps form the inspiration behind the organization’s marketing and advertising strategy, acting as a compass, where your company can circle back and determine if you are still aspiring for the realization of your vision from your company's early days.

3.???How do You Draft a Good Vision Statement?

Having convinced ourselves that there is some merit to having a vision and a vision statement, lets consider how we could create one.

First, let’s look at the characteristics of a good vision statement: -

?????????????I.???????It should be simple - It should be clear, concise, and easy for anyone, both inside and outside the organization to understand and remember, free of technical jargon, metaphors, or buzz words containing one or two short sentences. For example, Disney’s, ‘To make people happy’ vision statement.

????????????II.???????It should be genuine, unique from competitors, and inspirational. For example, Google’s, “To provide access to the world’s information in one click”.

???????????III.???????It should be realistic in terms of your capabilities, availability of resources, and growth potential. For example, Heinz, ‘To Be the Best Food Company, Growing a Better World’

?????????IV.???????Forward-looking - which simply means, ‘having the future in mind’. For example, BBC’s vision statement, “To be the most creative organization in the world”

???????????V.???????Motivating and inspirational - For example, Microsoft: “To help people throughout the world realize their full potential

?????????VI.???????Reflective of a company’s culture and core values- For example, Amazon, ‘to be earth's most customer- centric company’.

????????VII.???????Aimed at bringing benefits and improvements to the organization in the future

?Now that the characteristics are clear to us, the next step is to understand the steps to take to develop a vision statement as outlined below:

?????i.???????Outline the Mission and values - Before you can fully outline a vision statement, it’s important to know the mission and values of the organization, Such as honesty, passion, integrity, accountability among others.

????ii.???????Determine a time horizon long enough to allow you to think in an unconstrained manner e.g., 15 years, 50 years, 100 years etc.…

???iii.???????Take inspiration from companies that have defied odds to become huge in a short period of time e.g., Apple, Google, and also from those that have lasted for very long periods of time such as Otterton Mills UK, Kongo Gumi Japan, Marinelli Bell Foundry Italy, etc.

??iv.???????Craft the organization’s long-term goals

·?????????Where do we want the organization to go?

·?????????What problem does the organization intend to solve?

·?????????What are the changes we believe the organization can make for individuals? For the industry?

·?????????How will things be different if the vision is realized?

·?????????What phrases or keywords describe the type of organization and outcome we want?

???v.???????Establish the achievement timeline - Since a vision statement serves as a guide for an organization’s success, it’s helpful to add time frames to each component. Consider when you expect the business to meet certain milestones and achieve the goals you’re outlining in the statement.

??vi.???????Find no more than 35 words (preferably fewer) to summarize your vision, capturing the key words of a future changed in and by your company.

?vii.???????Share this with your shareholders, board, senior leadership and validate common vision in the event any of them was not part of the vision crafting process, and triangulate.

?viii.???????Create a final statement and share widely in the organization to galvanize energy and action and inspire strategic thought.

Below are some examples of vision statements from some renowned Companies. Since we expect that, you know of these, so we leave you to form an opinion on how well they have thus far shaped the businesses that articulated them, well equipped with the criteria for a good vision as you now are:

?????Google - “To provide access to the world’s information in one click”

?????Microsoft - “A computer on every desk and in every home.”

?????Paypal - “The web’s most convenient, secure, and cost-effective payments solution.”

?????American Express - “To provide the world’s best customer experience every day.”

?????Netflix – “Becoming the best global entertainment distribution service”

?????Safaricom Foundation – “Bringing Community dreams to life”

?????Kenya Commercial Bank – “To be the preferred financial solutions provider in Africa with global reach”

?????East African Breweries Limited – “To be the most celebrated business in every market in Eastern Africa”

4.???Conclusion

By investing in setting a vision and articulating a vision statement, business stakeholders create a shared view of the future with key stakeholders and position their businesses to craft a strategy and direction aligned to their mission and values hence organizational unity, focused revenue generation, better time management, better resource allocation, cost management, and eventually overall business success.

We at Stratex help organizations create mission, vision, values, and strategy and execute for success. If you would like to know more or to get our assistance in creating your vision or related subjects, talk to us today on 0713601118, through email at [email protected], [email protected] or contact us on our linked in page (Stratex Alignment Solutions) and we will be happy to discuss how we can help put your business on the path to success. If you want to learn more about us, visit our webpages at www.stratexalign.com (website).