Setting and Driving a Vision
Envision two leaders… both highly respected, dedicated to their teams, authentic in their desire to drive their organizations forward. Yet their approaches to sharing and executing their vision couldn't be more different – and neither could their results.
Mark stands at the front of the conference room, clicker in hand, walking through a meticulously prepared PowerPoint presentation. His vision is clear in his mind: becoming the market leader in customer experience while doubling revenue within three years. The slides are polished, the metrics ambitious but achievable. His team listens attentively – they genuinely like and respect Mark. He's the kind of leader who remembers birthdays, asks about their families, and has built a culture of trust.
As he concludes the presentation, there's enthusiastic applause. The slides hit everyone's inbox that afternoon, along with a thoughtful note from Mark about their exciting journey ahead. Yet, three months later, when asked about the organization's vision, his team members give wildly different answers. Some can't recall the specific goals at all.
Across town, Sarah is also sharing her vision with her team. But instead of opening with slides, she begins with a story about taking her daughter to her first day of kindergarten. "As I watched her walk into that classroom," Sarah says, "I saw a combination of terror and excitement in her eyes. She was stepping into the unknown, but she knew I'd be there when she came out. That's exactly how our clients feel when they're making major technology decisions. They're excited about the possibilities, but they need to know we'll be there, truly there, every step of the way."
Sarah's vision isn't just her own – it's been created from dozens of conversations with clients, team members, and industry partners. As she shares examples, heads nod around the room. People see themselves in this vision because, in many ways, they helped create it.
Why Most Annual Strategy Plans Fail
The contrast between these approaches highlights a critical challenge. Consider these sobering statistics from Gallup:
Only 13% of U.S. employees strongly agree that leadership communicates effectively with their organization.
Just 15% strongly agree the leadership makes them feel enthusiastic about the future.
Only 22% of employees strongly agree their leaders have a clear direction for the organization.
From Presentation to Movement
The weeks following these team meetings reveal the real difference between announcing a vision and driving a vision. While Mark's well-intentioned message begins fading into corporate memory, Sarah launches a systematic campaign to embed her vision into the organization's DNA.
Her approach? It starts with two weeks of individual conversations with team members. These aren't surface level check-ins, but meaningful discussions where she asks three simple yet important questions:
"What are you already doing that aligns with this vision?"
"What else could you do to help us get there?"
"What should we stop doing that doesn't serve this direction?"
But Sarah knows conversations alone aren't enough. She creates multiple versions of the vision story – one for sales teams to share with clients, another for department leaders to use with their teams, each slightly tailored but consistent to the message. She establishes aligned operating metrics and creates regular forums to share success stories and obstacles.
Sarah makes the vision part of daily operations. Client proposals now include a reference to the company vision so that clients understand what the company is all about. Team meetings start with shared examples of the vision in action. Even hiring discussions focus on finding people who will thrive in the future they're building.
A Leader's Vision Playbook
Want your vision to drive real change? Here's what successful leaders do differently:
First, they make it personal:
Connect your vision to your own real-life, authentic experiences
Share your own career journey and personal motivation for realizing the vision
Help others to envision their role in that vision and how it benefits them
Use real world examples that people can understand and relate to
Second, they build it together:
Gather input before rolling out the vision - it gets you insight, and helps the team feel a sense of authorship
Include insights from team members and clients
Create space for questions and dialogue
Collect and share success stories
Third, they drive that vision daily:
Create audience-specific versions of your message (sales teams, leaders, vendors, etc.)
Establish clear feedback loops and relevant, easy to understand metrics
Update operational processes to reflect new priorities
Make vision alignment part of regular discussions
Starting Your Movement
The most effective company vision isn't the one that sounds most inspiring in a presentation – it's the one that actually changes how people think and act every day. As you consider your own approach to vision-setting and execution, ask yourself: Are you creating a moment, or are you starting a movement?
The answer will determine not just the success of your vision, but the legacy of your leadership.