Leadership mentor and visionary leadership expert Heinz Kägi accurately observed that a present without vision leads to a future without meaning. Without meaning, power is lost in the organization. A vision enables you to “lead your organization from the future.” Otherwise, you will be too mentally “caught up” in the present day business and drift instead of leading. Sustainability then becomes at best an empty commitment. Occasionally take yourself and your leaders out of this “hamster wheel” and develop a shared vision of a worthwhile future.
What do we want to improve in this world? What can your organization contribute? What can each individual contribute? If you succeed in developing a fascination for such an idea of the future in your organization, your employees will become active out of intrinsic motivation. Your employees will no longer ask, “What’s in it for me?” but, “What can I contribute?” And you will notice a momentum in your organization that starts a directed movement parallel to the daily business. A strong and well-communicated vision changes the culture in your organization, and culture enables business models and strategies, which in turn entail structures. So vision triggers business models and strategies via culture.
In business, we can see a trend towards shorter cycles. This is true for business models and for strategies. And it also applies to visions. Visions now have a horizon of 3-10 years. This does not mean that a completely new vision has to be generated every 3-10 years, but the existing vision should at least be reviewed in corresponding cycles.