How To Write A Vision Statement For Your Business That Actually Inspires

Updated: June 3, 2022| Published: April 14, 2021| SlideUpLift Blog
How To Write A Vision Statement For Your Business That Actually Inspires

Running a business is not an easy job- there are numerous stakeholders, team members, clients – each having ideas on priorities, focus areas, where the business should go.

They need a guiding light to stay inspired and closely aligned together and channelize their energies towards taking the business to the next level. An important job of a leader is to set a clear and compelling vision for the organization. This part is super important as it allows everyone literally to be on the same page when it comes to envisioning the future.

Making a Vision Statement means that you’re looking at a forward-looking view of your organization and clearly articulating a desired state for the business. Often, in this forward-looking view, leaders frame how they intend to differentiate the business from the competitors and drive their business priorities in an inspiring and relatable manner.

Let’s understand how we make an impactful Vision Statement that truly embodies your ethics, values, and intentions. Also, we will review vision statement examples of a few successful companies.

In this blog, you will learn,

The Purpose Of A Vision Statement

A Vision Statement shouldn’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy, with sky-high and idealistic expectations. It is supposed to be a compass, directing your company and its people in the right direction to work towards a common goal or the Vision of the company, so to speak.

The main purpose of the Vision Statement is to set a broader strategic plan for your firm. It has to provide focus to your entire team, codifying expectations so each stakeholder knows what to work towards and coming up with ways to get there. In a way, it’s the Vision Statement that inspires the organization and gives people a strong sense of purpose and ambition.

How To Write A Good Vision Statement

Before you start writing your Vision Statement, there are three items you should keep in mind –

1. Involve – Rather than making it a top-down process, the creation of a Vision Statement should involve people at different levels and not just the leadership. It ensures that your entire team is aligned with the vision, having a personal stake and input into its creation.

2. Brainstorm – Ensure that you brainstorm by including multiple perspectives, ideas, aspirations, and goals. This is also when you try to identify your change impact and USP.

3. Write and iterate – Create sample iterations from your brainstorming sessions. Don’t get hung up on creating the perfect statement right from the start. Writing and rewriting statements with multiple objectives, ideas and perspectives will ensure the best, most concise, and impactful Vision Statement possible.

Now, for the building blocks to create the right Vision Statement for your organization based on the best practices we have learned from our users.

Building Block1 – Start with the end

To start with, start with the end in mind. This is often confused with what your company does today operationally. For instance, a publishing house prints books, but their intended outcome may be to educate people in their area of expertise and focus. There is a distinction between the two aspects, and you need to make it clear that you are mindful of what business are you really in.

Building Block2 – State your USP

One of the main goals of a good Vision Statement is to present the differentiating factor your firm has against competitors. The question here is what part of your service or product makes you unique. This is extremely important to make note of so the vision builds on this uniqueness.

Building Block3 – Quantify

Your Vision Statement should have a somewhat quantifiable end goal. A common problem with Vision Statements is that they’re too vague and work in abstraction. You need to clearly define your goals, and how your company intends to follow through with them. Of course, that’s not to say that you need to be hyper-specific about your goals. It just means that you should always be working towards an identifiable result, otherwise you run the risk of not having proper direction in your work processes.

Building Block4 – Relevant To The Real World

This is the final checkpoint for a good Vision Statement. Remember, you are an organization that intends to either solve a problem or cover a gap in the market. That means, your objectives should align with the real world. So, make your Vision Statement with an understanding of the real world, and ensure you paint an identifiable and understandable image for your clients, teams, and stakeholders so that they can visualize clearly what your firm’s vision for the future is.

Vision Statement Checklist

When writing your Vision Statement, following the above-given steps, you should ideally be able to write the right statement for your organization. However, if you’re unsure if your Vision Statement is effective or not, we have a checklist for you to follow that allows you to take a macro-level look at your statement to see if it’s impactful and well-written.

Is it concise? Have you written your goals, expectations, and future direction in the most concise way possible? If not, shorten it and remove any redundancies, repetitions, and useless words that are not needed to convey the same meaning.

Is it clear? Can someone, who doesn’t know of your company, understand your values and objectives? Also, are there parts that are contradictory? Make sure you optimize your statement to reflect these aspects too.

Does it have a definite time horizon? If not, define the approximate or broad scope time horizon in which you anticipate your firm to have reached the objectives of that vision statement. This is also the time you think your organization would’ve grown enough to warrant a rethink about the Vision Statement.

Is it stable? Is it something that communicates stability, or becomes irrelevant with changing trends, technology, and society? If it is, simplify your goals to make them less susceptible to changes in their environment.

Is it challenging enough? If your Vision Statement is too simplistic, you’re effectively curbing enthusiasm and innovation by following the simplest possible path, which can soon stagnate. It should have a goal that takes effort and dedication to achieve, but not so ambitious that it’s practically impossible.

Is it inspiring? The best Vision Statements are inspiring and motivating for everyone involved in your firm’s functioning.

Vision Statement Examples

Here is a list of Vision Statement examples of highly inspiring and impactful businesses in the world. These Vision Statement Examples showcase the best practices in writing the Vision Statement.

Microsoft

A computer on every desk and in every home.

Ikea

Our vision is to create a better everyday life for many people.

Disney

To entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds, and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.

Disney vision statement

Disney Vision Statement

Source: Disney Vision Statement by SlideUpLift

Amazon

Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Amazon Vision Statement Example

Amazon Vision Statement Example

Source: Amazon Vision Statement by SlideUpLift

To create the perfect Vision Statement for your organization, one that you can display, share and visualize for all stakeholders, you can use some of our expertly built and Vision and Mission Statement templates, that utilize vision science and storytelling to provide the right base for your company’s Vision Statement.

Some Of Our Best Templates For Vision Statement Examples Include –

Vision Statement Example

Vision PowerPoint Template

Source: Vision PowerPoint Template by SlideUpLift

Product Vision Statement Examples

Product Vision Slide

Source: Product Vision slide by SlideUpLift

Mission Vision Statement Example

Mission Vision PowerPoint Template

Source: Mission Vision PowerPoint Template by SlideUpLift

Check out many more vision statement templates examples to showcase your vision statement. Also, check out OKR Examples that also help define business goals or objectives and measure key results.

Now you don’t have to scour the web to find out the right templates. Download our PowerPoint Templates from within PowerPoint. See how?

Categories: blog, Business Presentation Tips