What 5 things make for an effective vision statement?

A good vision statement is concise, making it easy for managers and leaders to communicate and for employees to remember easily. Microsoft's vision statement is future-oriented because achieving growth and impact in all communities could take a lifetime or many lives. It also conveys the message of leading change and improving the quality of life around the world, which clearly reflects Microsoft's values of innovation, diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility and the environment. Let's say you've finally created the perfect vision statement that makes every member of senior management proud.

Strategic clarity matters. The lack of a clear strategic vision can hinder short-term performance and long-term organizational health. If properly communicated, Temkin wrote that a vision statement can be very motivating for non-profit organization stakeholders. That said, this doesn't mean that you should include numbers or any financial indicators in your vision statement.

In short, a vision statement describes the desired future state of a company within 5 to 10 years and guides the direction of the company's efforts. Regardless of where your strategic retirement begins, a clear vision and mission, combined with your corporate values, form the foundation for strategic success. As a result, including other stakeholders in the vision creation process will not only generate ideas, but it will also generate their acceptance from the start, since it will also be their vision. It won't always be possible to incorporate this level of tangibility into a vision statement, but if so, I highly recommend that you do so.

Connect with stakeholders and team members, who will play a role in realizing the company's vision. But it is to be hoped that the above examples will illustrate well some of the pitfalls to avoid when creating your own vision. For example, Microsoft had a famous vision statement to put a computer with Microsoft technology on every desktop in the world (slightly paraphrased). A vision statement describes what a company wants to achieve in the long term, usually within five to ten years or sometimes even longer.