The Importance of a Shared Vision
What happens when an organization doesn't have a shared vision? Essentially, without a core purpose, values, and vision, your company — as promising as it may be — is headed toward dead end after dead end. It’s just not going to work.
So, what is shared vision? It defines who you are, where you’re going, and how you’ll get there. In fact, its two core components are a core ideology and envisioned future. What’s more, a shared vision happens when both leadership and employees not only want the same things for the company but also work together to accomplish these things. It’s an effort from the top to the bottom, and back up — and repeat. It begins with everyone, not solely a leadership team, thus creating common interests and an organic sense of shared purpose across everything that happens in the organization. It should be palpable to your audience. That’s the goal.
According to thought leader John Kotter, the vision serves three purposes: First, it clarifies the general direction of change, which makes life easier later on while change is happening. Second, it motivates individuals to take action in the right direction, even if there's internal conflict or discomfort. Lastly, a company’s vision coordinates the actions of everyone involved, which makes the entire operation more efficient and cost effective.
Why a vision is so important: When your core purpose, values, and vision are all aligned, it creates a firm foundation on which your company can weather any storm. While the world around changes, your strategies and practices, with constant discipline, can seamlessly adapt, balancing continuity with change and giving clarity to the company. Compare that with often vague and unremarkable “mission statements” that live solely on a forgotten page of many a company’s website. An effective vision is an inspiring one.
Take Patagonia for example. On its website, you’ll find the following as the company’s vision: ““Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” Now, Patagonia is well known for being a global leader in sustainability. From its products to materials used to the money raised for environmental causes, that clear vision and unrelenting drive to preserve the Earth’s ecosystems is immersed in its culture. It’s something everyone from their employees to their customers want. That’s one inspired shared vision! That’s the goal!
How to build your company’s vision: As I mentioned before, two tenets of a company’s vision are its core ideology and envisioned future. While a core ideology is the enduring character of an organization (i.e. the glue that holds the company together), an envisioned future is commonly defined as a vision of what your future looks like as a result of your actions. To arrive at your envisioned future, Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) recommends that you identify bold stretch goals and articulate vivid descriptions of what it will mean to achieve them.
Two components of a company’s vision:
Core ideology: Core values + purpose
Envisioned future: long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals.
As you set out toward building your inspired, shared vision, take a look at the various theories, formats, systems, tools, and products on the market to help, like these eight questions. Do what works for you: choose a method that fits you best or develop your own, just keep the two vision components as your North Star.
Write it down: Did you know that you’re 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down? It’s true, according to psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews at the Dominican University in California. So when it comes to developing a core vision, write it all out, staying ever focused on the two components of core ideology and envisioned future.
Now What: What to do with your newfound shared vision.
Once you've clearly defined your vision (and goals), you must develop a plan and operationalize strategies. Your vision and goals must then be aligned with structure, culture, and operations. To bring it down to an operational level, I recommend breaking annual goals down into 90 day objectives. This will establish and maintain a cadence that keeps the momentum going as you work toward new goals every three months.
You should also do something I like to call SOLS: Strategic Operations Leadership System (SOLS), which encompasses Vision, Culture, Strategy, Structure, Operations and Cadence. I break that down here.
Future State can also help. Our strategic partnership helps you refine and clarify your vision and structure. We also help you operationalize strategies through cultural and operational alignment and establish a cadence for measuring, reporting, and communicating.
Contact us if you need help getting your company’s vision in place and in action.