In the book “Rock Solid Leadership,” Robin Crow states that “all of us have an inherent need for a clear sense of direction and purpose in life … because everybody wants to be part of something great.”
While some organizations have good mission statements, the same cannot be said for vision statements, because in most organizations such a statement does not exist. Followers need a clear idea as to where they are being lead and they need to understand why that goal is valuable. Unfortunately, too many leaders shirk their most important responsibility and do not have a vision for their Business. If a vision statement exists, few people know what it is.
The most stirring single vision statement was communicated on May 25, 1961, when John F. Kennedy said in a message to Congress that … ”I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”
This is clear an example of how a leader can set an agenda for the future. When Kennedy made this speech, it was only twenty days after Alan Shepard became America’s first man in space. Shepard spent a mere 15 minutes and 28 seconds in suborbital flight, and his spacecraft sunk shortly after splashing down in the ocean. Not an auspicious beginning to sending people to the moon, but it was a success nevertheless. Just over eight years later, the Apollo 11 mission lasted over 195 hours, taking two men to the surface of the moon while a third orbited above.
Kennedy knew that there were lots of problems to be addressed to achieve the goal. What he did was set a timetable and he left it to others to figure out how it was going to be done. He also knew that he would not be president when man walked on the moon for the first time, so his vision was larger than himself.
He said in that same speech on that “… No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish … but in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon–if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”
What resonates about this vision is that, as Dan Heath and his brother Chip wrote in their book “MADE TO STICK: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” is that Kennedy’s goal was an idea that people understood when they heard it, that they remembered it later on, and that it changed how people thought and acted. Despite tragedy and set back, the space program was a shining example of a “can do” attitude in a decade marred by upheaval, including assassinations, war and riots. Neither the goal nor the deadline ever changed.
What makes a good vision and how can you create a vision that “sticks”? There are six components. To start, it has to be simple; is there anything more simply understood than going to the moon and returning to earth? Second, it has to be unexpected. Surely, given that we had just put our first man in space, no one watching or listening that night expected to hear such an audacious goal. Third, it must be concrete. There is nothing more concrete than setting a solid goal and attaching a deadline to it. Fourth, it has to be credible. Given that a man had just circled the earth, people believed that it was possible to accomplish the goal within the next 8 plus years. Fifth, it has to be emotional; the thought of seeing a man walk on the moon, a dream of countless generations, stirred the imagination of millions of people. Sixth, it is a miniature story; given the television coverage of Shepard’s historic flight, people could visualize seeing a space capsule splash down in the ocean returning from a trip to the moon. Seventh, it must be so short that people can remember it. Kennedy’s vision was all of 31 words.
What resonates after four plus decades is that it was so clear that there wasn’t a single person on the planet who didn’t understand exactly what success would look like. There is no play on words here; people could “see” this vision…it literally created a picture in their mind. It was also so simple that no one could have been confused by the meaning of “man,” “moon,” or “decade”.
Heath wrote in his book that …”If JFK had been a modern-day politician or CEO, he’d probably have said, ‘Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry, using our capacity for technological innovation to build a bridge towards humanity’s future.’ Goodbye, moon walk.”
Yet, for those organizations who have a vision statement, this is how it is likely to read; something crafted by business people who cannot communicate a simple idea that energizes those that are charged with making it happen and those it impacts.
No matter what your industry, no matter what size organization you have today, give your stakeholders the leadership they need, which is nothing more than a big, hairy, audacious goal that excites and moves them, along with a concrete deadline. Tell them what they are aiming for and when it’s supposed to be done. Then, get out of their way and let them get to it.
