Characteristics of an effective vision

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A leader's task is to offer guidance by holding up a vision of what is possible.
–Lieutenant Colonel Bob Staub, II

An effective vision should be:

Vividly imaginable: Conveys a clear picture of what the future will look like
Desirable: Appeals to the long-term interests of employees and other stakeholders
Compelling: Is so much better than the current state that people will gladly undertake the effort and sacrifices necessary to attain it
Realistic: Comprises feasible goals that are attainable for a hardworking group of people
Focused: Limits itself to a manageable and coherent set of goals and is clear enough to provide guidance to others in decision making
Flexible: Is general enough to be adapted to changing circumstances
Easy to communicate: Can be successfully and succinctly explained to people throughout different levels of your organization

Consider the following example of an effective vision, taken from a large corporation:

"It's our goal to become the world leader in the pharmaceutical industry within 10 years. This means we will increase profits, focus more on customer-centered innovation, offer better employee benefits than any of our competitors. Achieving this objective will require that we become more globally focused. If we all work together, we can achieve this vision."

Here is another example of an effective vision, from a business unit:

"It is our aim to reduce our costs by at least 25% and increase our sales group's revenues by at least 25%. These are stretch goals but, based on our analysis, we know they are achievable within four years if we all work together. When this is done, our unit will be publicly recognized for our achievement. Likewise, our unit will serve as a model for process improvement across the organization."

Be sure that the vision you craft is consistent with your organization's overall mission. A vision should appeal to an organization's core values — the guiding principles by which the organization navigates — like honesty, creativity, or social responsibility. It should also draw upon an organization's core purpose — its most fundamental reason for being — like helping people to do something or improving a practice worldwide.