I hear people everywhere today talking about how a clear vision helps a company be competitive, effective and focused in a clear direction. Is a vision important? Very, very important. Did you know that about ten years ago the Walt Disney Company was basically dead? It was going to be bought up by the sharks and spit out in pieces. Why? After Walt Disney’s death, no one was able to play the important visionary role that he did. In fact, there were rumors that Walt was put on ice, with the hope that some new technology might come along to later revive him.

What saved Disney? When the Bass brothers from Fort Worth, Texas, got financial control of Disney, they decided to keep it together. And they went out and got Michael Eisner to take over the leadership role. Has he made a difference to the Walt Disney Company? You’d better believe it! Some people say he gets paid too much. I think maybe he gets paid too little.

Look what’s happened to the company since they got a leader with some clear vision. The Walt Disney movie operation was in sad shape. Now, not only is the original company soaring, but Touchstone Films – owned by Disney – is killing the competition. The theme parks were in two locations – one in California and one in Florida. In Orlando, Florida, there were basically two under-whelming hotels. Today there is an incredible variety of hotels, including a five-star venue at the Grand Floridian, and high-quality, low-cost housing in projects like the Caribbean. Disney is now also located in Japan and France. What about the retail-ill stores? That business was negligible. Now it is one of the leading retail operations in the country. Michael Eisner, and his capacity to establish clear vision, has made a difference.

Why is IBM in trouble?

Certainly Thomas Watson had a clear vision about that company and how it could be not only an industry leader, but a major economic player in our country. The reality is that since Watson, the leadership has lacked a clear vision about what IBM is going to do. In fact, when you hear the new leadership talk, it’s about the challenge of creating a clear vision for the IBM of the future.

The importance of vision in an organization is so great that our customers have pushed us to create a program and a process to help them in this important area. Through the efforts of Drs. Jesse Stoner and Drea Ziganni, we now have a program on visioning. According to Jesse and Drea, a clear vision involves three things: purpose, values and image. An organization’s purpose is its “reason for existence.” It clarifies what you do – what business you are in. If your organization’s purpose is solely to be profitable or to grow, it will have a hollow core with no meaning. It won’t have any sense of direction for future growth. Purpose illuminates and gives rise to values – what is really important to you and the people in your organization regarding how you want to accomplish your purpose or end. Stating your values and making them clearly part of your vision fuels the passion that keeps you and your people focused in the face of obstacles, adversity, and change.

The final element of a vision is to create an image – a picture you create in your mind of a highly desirable future state – a picture of what is happening when the purpose and values of your organization are being fulfilled. An image illustrates the end result you intend to happen. It is more than just a vague sense or positive thinking.

Warren Bennis argued in his book Leaders that leaders do the right thing and managers do things right. Visioning is an important leadership role that cannot be delegated. The initial energy has to start at the top of the organization. Sure, everyone can and should be involved in clarifying the vision, but the leadership role starts there.

That’s what happened when Jan Carlzon turned Scandinavian Airlines System around from a sleepy, bureaucratic airline owned by three countries – Sweden, Norway and Denmark – into a major competitor in the travel and hospitality business. Carlzon feels it all started with a clear vision – that when business travelers thought about traveling, they would choose SAS. Carlzon envisioned that they would select SAS not because they had better airplanes, because he felt if you don’t have good airplanes you’re not even in the game. The reason customers would choose SAS is that the airline would beat the competition in its “moments of truth.” A moment of truth is when any customer comes in contact with your organization and receives an impression about how you answer the phone or whether they will get what they want, where they want it, when they want it.

In summarizing the importance of vision, Carlzon ended his book Moments of Truth telling the story about three men who were chipping at granite. Someone asked the first man what he was doing. He said, “I’m trying to break this granite.” He asked the second man what he was doing and he replied, “I’m a professional mason creating stone blocks.” He asked the third man what he was doing and he replied, “I’m part of a team that’s building a cathedral.” A clear vision focuses people’s energy and inspires them to make their company a world class organization.