Vision

From Theory to Practice

What is a vision, and what should it achieve?

In recent years, one word has become especially associated with leadership: vision.

A vision expresses the picture of the desirable, long-term future for an organization. It sets the direction for organizational development and answers questions such as: Where do we want to go? What does the ideal situation look like in three, five, or seven years for our organization? And what do we hope to achieve at that point that we have not succeeded in yet?

The vision is thus the long-term beacon that guides daily leadership tasks focused on setting direction and achieving results. Clearly, leaders can only lead with reference to a vision if one has actually been formulated—and this is where vision processes come into play. A vision process refers to the phase in which a vision is developed.

Vision processes are often highly participatory, with leaders, employees, boards, politicians, partners, citizens, and customers all contributing input.

Here, stakeholders provide input on what improvements they want the organization to achieve, which future dreams should be realized, and which narratives should be created about the organization going forward. In other words, a vision should support desired changes.

Many people associate a vision with a single 15–20-word sentence—but a vision is much more than that. Ideally, the vision is unfolded in a vision document—typically 3–5 pages—containing a series of guiding markers that articulate what the organization wants to achieve in the future. The actual vision statement is simply the concise sentence that summarizes this document and clarifies the overall direction for organizational development.

What are the benefits of vision processes?

There are several good reasons why your organization should formulate a vision. Research shows that there are substantial benefits:

It can motivate and engage employees by serving as a shared agreement—a collective dream for everyone to realize together.
A vision plays a crucial role during major changes by setting clear direction for where the organization is moving from and toward.
Finally, a vision helps position your organization as progressive and development-oriented—constantly striving to do better today than yesterday.

Case: Leadership and Organizational Development at Aarhus Vand

Aarhus Vand’s business strategy towards 2025 builds on their 2020 strategy—which over more than ten years has made them one of Denmark’s leading companies in their field. By building on this foundation, they create even better opportunities to shape the water utility of tomorrow.

In developing their strategy, we explored four long-term scenarios—helping navigate a complex market that could evolve in many directions.

Checklist for Vision Processes

When developing a vision process in your organization, there are several key points worth remembering regarding its content—all rooted in understanding what a vision is: “The organization’s picture of the desirable, long-term future.” That definition includes three important words: “desirable,” “future,” and “picture.”

The vision must be desirable.
In practice, this means it must be worth striving for; it should motivate those who will help fulfill it.
The vision must be future-oriented.
It should address the desirable future within sight but still out of reach.
Finally, the vision must be visual.
The word “vision” comes from Latin “videre” (to see) and “visio” (sight). Thus, a vision is something visual—it must create images of the desired future.

Client feedback on LEAD’s approach to vision processes

“LEAD—and especially Christian Nyvang Qvick—was an invaluable sparring partner and asset in developing Vision 2032 for Fredericia Municipality. From the outset, Christian was dedicated to designing a professional and well-structured process—ensuring everyone felt involved and safe throughout. Together with LEAD we conducted nine workshops with council members as well as employees, citizens, business leaders and volunteers from across our municipality. Christian’s ability to balance theoretical insights with practical realities—and make visionary work relevant and understandable for all—created immense value and delivered invaluable input for our political work setting clear direction for Fredericia’s future. I warmly recommend LEAD and Christian Nyvang Qvick.”

Anne De Place, Secretariat Manager, Fredericia Municipality

How we can help you

We offer leadership and organizational sparring sessions, research-based education and presentations on vision processes as well as training programs specifically focused on equipping you with general management competencies.

See examples of our services here:

Presentations

Inspirational research-based presentations on vision processes for all levels within your organization

Sparring

Advisory support regarding your organizational development or key initiatives

Workshops

Facilitation of active workshops focused on competence development at management or executive level

LEAD’s approach to vision processes

A successful vision process must deliver two things: a high-quality vision document—and ownership of the vision by those responsible for realizing it. At LEAD we specialize in facilitating processes that achieve both outcomes.

We have facilitated vision processes in numerous public and private organizations—with participation ranging from 20 to 600 people.

Our services range widely—from inspirational presentations on key focus areas when developing visions—to facilitating large-scale participatory processes where we help gather, analyze, condense, and synthesize inputs into a coherent document via workshops, dialogue sessions or interviews. As part of your process, we can also help develop your leaders’ visionary leadership skills.

Contact us for more information about what we can do for your organization

Are you facing organizational change? Do you need strategic advice or a cultural development program?

Contact us so we can tailor together a program that develops precisely those competencies and structures needed to strengthen and future-proof your organization.

Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen

Managing Director & Partner

Master of Law

Mobile: +45 22 42 18 11
Email: aba@lead.eu