Creating a Company Vision Statement

As a business owner, you do not have the option of being a poor leader. Your family and employees depend on your strong leadership skills to help guide and motivate them to come together and make your company a success.

The biggest test to see whether you are a good leader within your company is to take a look directly into the success of your company. Hint: The success of your company is a direct reflection upon your leadership skills—good or bad.

The first step to ensure you are an effective leader within your company is to make sure your company vision statement is clearly written and understood by all employees. A vision statement is critical to being able to effectively lead an organization. Without a vision statement, it is impossible to give clear direction to accomplish what your company needs in order to be successful.

While you sit down to write this company vision, make sure you write your company vision so it is in line with your personal vision (i.e, what you want personally out of life). If you can, have your employees participate in the writing of the company vision statement. This gives them a real sense of contribution to the company and the knowledge that they play a key role in the success in the company.

A few questions to keep in the back of your mind while writing your company vision statement would be:

• Is this vision statement reasonable?
• Is there a geographic aspect (how big do I want this company to be)?
• Is this attainable?
• Is this inspiring to all audiences or stakeholders?
• What is the level of quality I want to provide?
  

Your next step—and one many business owners overlook—is communication. Your vision statement is your way of communicating where your goals for the company are for both the short- and long-term to all employees. Plus, this enables them to see how their hard work and your leadership plays a vital role within that vision statement. Also, inspire your employees to live this vision. One of the goals of this company vision should be to have the company
vision be part of your company culture.

One way I make sure my staff members know the vision statement is by walking around when I have a free minute and asking staff members at random what the vision statement is. If they know it, they will be rewarded.

A strong vision statement is your first step towards strengthening your ability to effectively lead your company.