- Today, we are going to answer the question,
what is a vision statement?
And by the end of the video,
you will get the opportunity to draft your own.
So let's get into the details.
(harsh rock music)
This is the second video in a three-part series
about mission, vision, and values.
To briefly recap the first video,
a mission statement explains what an organization is doing
in the present tense, in terms of its job description,
its assignment.
Mission statements focus on the day-to-day business
of an organization.
In contrast, a vision statement looks at the future.
My working definition of a vision statement
is a concise statement that explains
what the organization wants the future to look like.
It describes where the organization wants to go,
its overarching, long-term goal,
and sometimes, where it wants to take its clients,
customers, and the community it serves.
One of the best vision statements I have ever heard
comes from John F. Kennedy
when he was talking about the United States vision
for the space program.
JFK gave a speech in 1961, where he said that
"This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal
"before the decade is out of landing a man on the moon
"and returning him safely to earth."
And the majority of people listening to him
didn't think it was even possible to go to the moon,
let alone do it in the decade.
If I have my history right,
the first American went into orbit for the very first time
just a few weeks before the made this speech.
But spoiler alert, we did it in mid-July, 1969.
We successfully landed on the moon.
The space program went from never having a person orbit
to landing on the moon in less than 10 years.
That's the power of a compelling vision.
Let's bring this back down to earth for a while
and talk about some organizational vision statements.
Let's see if these organizations
are actually working toward accomplishing
these long-term goals.
First, let's look at Netflix.
Their vision statement is
"Becoming the world's best
"global entertainment distribution service."
That's their original vision statement
from CEO, Reed Hastings.
And I haven't looked at the statistics
on how Netflix competitors are doing, but at face value,
it does seem as if Netflix
is certainly trying to accomplish the vision
of being the best global entertainment distribution service.
Let's look at Nike, the athletic shoe and apparel company.
And if you are expecting to see a vision statement
that says, "Just do it", then that's not it.
That's their marketing tagline.
That's the way the company puts itself out in the public,
but it's not the same as the vision statement,
its long-term goal as an organization.
Their actual vision statement is
"To bring inspiration and innovation
"to every athlete in the world."
So as a customer of Nike,
I love this idea that they wanna inspire and innovate
for every athlete.
Again, I don't know about the sales figures,
but it seems to me that they are pursuing this vision.
I was reading a news story a while back
about how a prototype Nike shoe
was giving a runner an unfair advantage in a race
because of the innovative aspects of the shoe.
So it seems to me at face value
that Nike really is pursuing innovation and inspiration.
Microsoft has a famous vision statement from back in the day
when they were first growing.
One of their earliest vision statements
was to have a computer on every desk and in every home,
and I've heard it also added
to the end of that, running Microsoft software.
I don't know if that ending
was ever officially part of the literal vision statement,
but it was at least implied that Microsoft
would be creating the software for those computers.
In some ways, it reminds me
of Kennedy's moon landing vision.
At the time, in the 1980s,
a computer on every desk, in every home seemed impossible,
but Microsoft, essentially, accomplished its goal.
Southwest Airlines vision statement
is "To be the world's most loved, most efficient,
"and most profitable airline."
So I'm a college professor
and this vision statement earns an A plus.
They have been the most consistently profitable airline
for four decades, and they have always been at
or very near the top
of all the various customer service ratings
that airlines get.
They have been in the midst of achieving that vision
for decades now.
Sometimes, a vision statement isn't really spelled out
in such a concise way.
Sometimes there's a statement that's more like a paragraph.
Other times, they don't even label it a vision statement,
but most organizations that are established
do have some kind of explanation
of where they want to go in the future
in one way or another.
Oyster is a luxury sailboat maker that we talked about
in the first video on mission statements.
And on their website,
they don't label their statement a vision statement,
but it's pretty obvious that that's what it is.
Their statement has a heading that says,
"Sailing into the future."
And that says that the company won
the Bluewater Cruiser of the Year award in 2019,
and that is a pedigree or award
that they hope to see repeated in the future.
The implication is that their vision for the future
is to continue to be an award-winning company.
Again, they don't call it a vision statement,
but that's the company's goal,
to be the world's best of its kind.
Just like some mission statements we looked at
in the last video,
some organizations make vision statements
in a really concise sentence,
but other organizations write it out
in a short paragraph or two.
Wegmans is an award-winning grocery store chain.
On their website, they talk about what they believe
and they put the words, goals, vision in parentheses,
and they write out the rest in a paragraph form.
In the middle of that though, you can see that their goal
is to be the best grocery store chain
at serving the needs of our customers.
So it's a little vague at best,
but in the context of the rest of the language,
it all makes sense.
And if you've ever shopped at Wegmans like me,
then you already know it's the best.
And I'm biased, of course,
but Wegmans really does have an excellent reputation
as an employer and also as a place to shop.
Now let's transition to talk about
how you can craft a vision statement for yourself
or for your organization.
And if you're the leader of any kind of team
or organization,
then you can craft a vision statement
about where you want to take that team.
Start by asking questions about the kind of long-term goal
that would provide an inspirational vision and direction.
Think about what the team organization could become
in the next five years or 10 years.
A vision should be ambitious,
but yet, at least hypothetically possible.
So I'll tell you my vision statement
for this channel and my videos.
I would like to become the top independent YouTube channel
and online class creator for communication,
public speaking, and leadership skills.
There are whole organizations out there
that have hundreds of employees that do this type of work,
but I want to be the top individual doing this,
and it's a very ambitious vision statement, but why not?
It's hypothetically possible,
and that's the kind of vision
that will help me stay motivated.
But let's turn back to you.
What's your long-term vision for the future for your team?
And by the way, I found that
a vision statement for your own career
can also be really helpful,
apart from the specific organization that you might work at.
And it works in the same way.
A personal vision statement gives you an aspirational goal,
a clear picture of the future that you can strive for
and clarity about where you want to take your career
or your life.
It can help guide your decisions,
so you keep aiming at that future.
And when you're know where you're going,
it's easier to stay focused and stay on track.
As mentioned, this is a three-part series.
The first video is on mission statements,
this one's on vision, and the next one is on values.
Now I'll post all those links to these videos
in the description below as soon as they're all complete.
Thanks, God bless, and I will see you soon.