Don Wehby, Contributor

In most organisations today, the vision statement is used to communicate to the staff and the public the vision that the management of the organisation has for its success.

An effective vision statement is one that inspires, energises and helps to create a mental picture of the specific goals of the organisation. The importance of such a clearly defined vision to the success of a company cannot be emphasised.

The process involves turning a dream into a clear vision and that vision into a reality for that organisation. Without a clear definition of purpose, a vision, therefore, is more of a dream than anything else.

Visions into reality

There are many real-life examples of persons who have created visions for themselves and have turned those visions into reality.

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and founder of Pixar Studios (now owned by Disney), is one such example. Armed with US$1,300 and a garage for a workplace, Jobs and partner Steve Wozniak successfully built and sold the first line of personal computers. Years later, Jobs is one of the most successful men in America.

Despite facing many challenges, Jobs was a true visionary who changed people's views on the operations of a computer. He reduced the size of computers to small boxes.

Starbucks, the popular coffee-house chain, started as a store selling coffee beans because the then owners felt that coffee was something to be prepared in the home. Howard Schultz, a staff at the company, felt that there was a business opportunity in selling already- prepared coffee to on-the-go Americans.

Originally, this idea wasn't supported by the owners of the company but, with this vision in hand, Schultz decided to start his own coffee chain. When this was successful, he eventually bought the Starbucks chain from the owners and has since turned Starbucks into the largest coffee-house chain in the world.

Undeterred, Schultz created success for himself and many others by solidly working towards his vision.

Another example is Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric (GE).

Welsh said, "Business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion."

Bearing this in mind, he transformed GE from being a 'supertanker - strong and steady in the water' to a 'speedboat - fast and agile, able to turn on a dime' because he believed the company had much more potential. He insisted that each business unit be either first or second in its market.

His vision for GE had been achieved as he managed to significantly increase revenue from approximately US$26.8 billion in 1980 to US$130 billion in 2000. Additionally, GE has diversified its business significantly, naming its vision 'We bring good things to life'.

Thus, where, originally GE was primarily a manufacturing business, it now has veins extending to, among others, the media and electronics industries; just part of Jack Welsh's vision for the company.

Help of employees important

It is important for the management of an organisation to both have a vision for the company and communicate this vision to employees. Without the help of employees, vision cannot become a reality. Effectively communicating a vision and indicating the ways in which each employee can contribute to that vision will create a collective belief in what the organisation can become.

All three businessmen, Jobs, Schultz and Welsh, were committed to their vision. Displaying this commitment can create enthusiasm and can in turn increase the commitment that the employees have to creating the reality.

The vision needs to be realistic enough that people feel that it can be achieved, but it must not necessarily be easily attainable as more people understand and appreciate success when there is hard work involved.

It was Sam Walton who said, "Capital isn't scarce. Vision is". Let us, as business leaders, ensure that we create a vision in our organisations that is realistic, credible and boasts an attractive future. Let us also ask of our politicians that they create and actively work towards a vision for a better Jamaica.

'If you can dream it, you can do it'-Walt Disney