What Makes a Vision Statement, Well, Visionary?

What is a “vision statement” is a common question today. There are many answers to that question, too. I see too many visions that sound like slogans. I see corporations advertise what they say are their vision statements but, as I define them, they can’t be their corporate vision statements.

I’m looking for some “pie in the sky” kinds of things with my clients because we’ve had too many decades of planning driven by the practical and programmable; “if we can’t project it reasonably with numbers, then it doesn’t belong in a plan.” Stepping back to the macro view, the CU “movement” no longer exists. It has been replaced by the need to shore up and keep healthy the share insurance fund; nothing wrong with that, except that it is now the primary driver, the priority-end kept in mind for too many CU leaders today.

That low-level view leads to concerns over efficiency, strong bottom lines, etc. And, yes, those are important, but they also detract leaders from considering the greater questions, like why do credit unions exist? Do the original reasons for forming financial cooperatives still exist today? Do consumers care if we provide a choice? For how long will they care? Until we stop thinking only about the company, and start considering our relation to the world around us, we will never get answers to those and many more questions.

All of humankind dreams; how come we don’t stopped allowing businesses to dream of what can be, and then, in the course of business, go for it, try to make it happen? All the leaders we respect and admire had/have visions of the future that their practical counterparts considered untouchable. Yet, they shared their visions in ways that inspired followers. So, the corporate vision gets translated when shared with the followers, the employees. We want to elevate their minds and hearts above their narrower vision of a clear desk and a satisfied customer/member, to something larger than their department, larger than their company … because all companies raise the standard of living or improve the quality of life, or perish eventually.

Since the term “Pie in the Sky” means something good that is promised and never realized, I prefer to think of the visionary things as conditions that ought to be. If we limit our corporate visioning to things we can control, then we’re back to limiting our dreams to operations, the things we put our hands on and feel like we’re in control. However, not all aspects of operations are within the credit union’s leadership to control. Consider interest rates, labor law’s impact on benefits and ADA’s impact on construction. We can’t control the competition that may cost us anticipated revenue after the budget is cast.

My concept of a corporate vision for any company is one that recognizes the external impact your organization can have on its part of the world. It recognizes that the good you do for members does not stop within their households, but spills over to the community where they live. Starting with the end in mind at the community-level helps not only your member/customer, it also helps your employees, volunteers and the companies who supply the credit union and also live in those communities.

The business plans developed by management will be shaped by the limited resources at hand. Priorities over what to do in the next ten years will leave some of the ideals of the corporate vision “unfunded.” As long as the leadership (board and top management) never lose sight of the corporate vision, the company will find new and innovative ways to put projects and practices in place, over time (twenty or thirty years), to make its communities better.

When we have such a corporate vision, we will see stronger business plans. Business plans encompassing 1, 2 and more years will get better because they are no longer within themselves, inwardly focused on immeasurableness, projections, and mathematical certainties. Our business plans need something higher to aim at and to try to produce – the better world as captured in the corporate vision.