Tips to Create an Inspiring Vision Statement
A vision statement outlines a company’s purpose and future aspirations, while a mission statement details the company’s current operations and objectives. Vision statements are crucial as they provide direction and focus for employees toward a shared goal. To create a compelling vision statement, infuse it with emotion, make it motivational, and ensure it reflects the company’s values and aspirations.
This guide is aimed at business leaders who desire to craft a vision statement that showcases their principles and reinforces their corporate identity.
Vision Statement Tips for Business Leaders
Let’s focus on the expert pieces of advice for business leaders:
1- Define the Creators of Your Company’s Vision
Crafting a vision statement starts with identifying who will be responsible for its creation. In small businesses, gathering input from all employees may be feasible. In larger companies, a more selective approach may be necessary while considering inputs from diverse employees.
2- Collaborate and Ideate Your Vision through Workshops
Brandon Shockley, who served as the VP of market research at 160over90 and now leads investor research and insights at Vanguard, suggests conducting workshops with key stakeholders from diverse areas of the organization.
Afterward, assemble teams and leverage collaboration tools to generate various iterations of the statement and gather employee feedback on which version resonates best.
3- Gather Personal Perspectives for Your Vision
Falkowski proposed the use of stakeholder interviews as a means of fostering sincere feedback. This approach allows employees to bring forth common themes and express the organization’s future verbally or through visual branding tools, thereby serving as a foundation for the vision statement.
4- Make Your Vision Statement Brief yet Significant
A vision statement should be concise, a phrase or two at maximum. All employees must repeat and grasp its essence quickly. Nevertheless, a vision statement should possess more substance than a memorable phrase. Falkowski emphasizes that a vision statement should “be smart and noteworthy, but its purpose is to foster the team culture, not to market a particular product.”
5- Create An Extended Vision for Internal Reference
Don’t worry if a brief vision statement seems insufficient to convey your vision completely. It’s okay to have a longer version for internal use but not for public dissemination.
According to Shannon DeJong, owner of House of Who, having an extended version of the vision statement serves as a reference guide for leaders to understand the purpose of the business. It’s okay if business leaders and board directors need to express their vision more concisely.
6- Dream big
When writing your vision statement, take your time thinking big. At this stage, don’t worry about feasibility, as what may seem unattainable now can be accomplished in the future with the right team and technological advancements. Focus on crafting a statement that embodies your business’s unique character and aspirations.
7- Using a brand vision board
Creating a brand vision board is crucial to bring your vision to life. It should include your company’s tagline, a description of the company, a statement of purpose, a vision statement, a target audience, client challenges, a content mission statement, an advertising strategy, product offerings, and SEO keywords.
A vision board acts as a condensed business plan that anyone in the company can easily refer to recall the key ideas that drive their work.
Conclusion
A compelling vision statement is crucial for any business as it defines its values and direction, providing a common goal for employees to work for. It can be created by hosting workshops with key stakeholders, keeping them concise and memorable, mapping out audacious goals, and creating a vision board.
A well-crafted vision statement can inspire and guide a company toward success and growth. Visit MK Marketing for more such business-related blogs.
