Believing the Vision

A company's vision statement is made up of many important components such as who, what, when, where and a little bit of how. Much importance is placed on the purpose or why behind the vision statement. All of these are extremely important and should always be included. But what if its too "pie in the sky" and not believable, will it be effective?

The vision statement's purpose is to drive and motivate the organization's staff from the front-line employee to the top executive. In order for a vision statement to serve its own purpose, it must be believable. If you don't get buy in then it won't drive actions and decisions like it was intended to. Now it is important to put believable into perspective. If the head of the organization shows passion in sharing the vision statement, it may become believable. If the actions and decisions made by senior management are consistent with the vision statement, it may become believable. The key is for the strategic leadership of the organization to communicate and gain acceptance from everyone.