Vision: how leaders develop it, share it, and sustain it - includes related articles

Business Horizons, Sept-Oct, 1994 by Joseph V. Quigley

Although the concept of vision is highly topical, not one in 20 corporations has what could pass as a vision statement inside or outside the company. Fewer than one in 100 has a vision statement that has been effectively communicated to its people.

Vision has been discussed by other authors, but there has been little definition of content. No one has described how to develop vision that encompasses broad-based commitment. Equally important, little has been written on how to communicate vision, how to renew it, and how to sustain it over long periods.

A distinctive element of the process of conveying and maintaining vision is that it is more collegial or group-oriented than other planning processes, which are more leader-oriented or hierarchical. A collegial process does not mean a democratic one. Listening to and respecting individual opinions are built into the process. There are no votes unless the leader asks for one. The leader has the final responsibility and the final word.

Vision: The Fundamental Source of Power

Leaders understand that life is a process of competition and selection. They compete for the minds and hearts of those who would join or follow them. A leader's vision implies an understanding of the past and present. More important, it offers a road map to the future and suggests guidelines to those in a given enterprise--how people are to act and interact to attain what they regard as desirable. A leader's vision may be intuitive or highly structured, but it is the bedrock for success in meeting the twin tests of competition and selection.

Some of the earliest and strongest visions were religious in nature. The visions of Buddha, Moses, Christ, and Mohammed still compel followers throughout the world.

The peoples of leading nations have always had a strong sense of vision. Sixteen years after the end of World War II, John Gardner laid out in his book Excellence what he called the "shared aims of a free people." His view of the American vision was peace with justice, freedom, the dignity and worth of the individual, the opportunity for all people to achieve the best that is in them, and equality before the law. Gardner pointed out that this list is not exhaustive, but is certainly indicative of the shared values of the American people.

Neither leaders nor followers are always able to move in a straight line toward the achievement of their vision. Lincoln Kirstein, artistic director of the New York City Ballet, when commenting on his namesake, Abraham Lincoln, said, "We see the Lincolnian self, capable of delay, double-talk, maneuver, hesitancy, compromise, in order that one prime aim of his own era be effected: preservation of Federal union" (Bennis and Nanus 1985).

The Corporation as an Institution

Philosophers and historians have only begun to assess the role of the large supranational corporation in the West. A brief comparison to other major institutions, such as the church, state, and family, is appropriate.

Churches in the West are struggling to remain vital and keep their members actively involved. They are fortunate to receive one hour per week from most of their members. The nation and state receive even less of our time directly. Although our tax bite may be large, we pay our taxes by mail and thus seldom come into direct contact with our state or nation as an institution. The role of the family in our society also seems to be declining. The typical family has become highly mobile, its members often preoccupied with their own concerns and their significant interactions limited to an evening meal, if that.

The corporation, on the other hand, is the focal poim of many people's lives for 40 to 60 hours per week. It is the institution with which they have the most contact and with which they are most familiar.

An effective case can be made for the significant role corporations have played in the postWorld War lI peace among the developed nations. A firm's suppliers today are often global in scope, and their markets and customers are widely distributed. It is not customary for corporations to wage war with their customers and suppliers. They must treat them with care and respect, as partners in success. When the Berlin Wall finally tumbled down as a symbol of division between East and West, communism and capitalism, it was the supranational corporations-IBM, GM, GE, PepsiCo--that moved in immediately and closed the first big deals. To better appreciate the size of these supranational corporations, one must realize that their annual budgets surpass those of most member countries of the United Nations.

The Corporate Vision

The vision of the corporation is the most fundamental statement of its values, aspirations, and goals, an appeal to its members' hearts and minds. It must indicate a clear understanding of where the corporation is today and offer a road map for the future. Because the corporation is so very important in our lives, we as members want to know its:

Values: what distinctive or fundamental beliefs it stands for;