As I pack my bags to head off to London for cataract surgery my mind is on vision, and this will be the subject I will address in this month’s article. Of course I’m not talking about eye surgery but the very necessary action that boards of organisations need to take in establishing a vision.

The vision, to me, is the starting point for all strategic discussion, because, to quote Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there”.

How true! To say it another way: “How will you know what road to take if you don’t know where you are heading?”

What is a vision then and what is its value?

A vision should be a clearly articulated description of the future state which the organisation will ideally attain.

In addition to being the start point for strategic planning, it also helps all stakeholders, but particularly employees of the organisation, to understand the proposed destination.

It will not only help them to understand the decisions made by the board and senior management, but will also inform the decisions they may be called upon to make. In that sense, it empowers the employees as ideally they will be able to work out through the setting of personal and business-unit objectives, how they will contribute to the successful achievement of the vision.

To be effective as a motivational tool, the vision needs to be clear, aspirational and challenging with the intent that it will inspire and even excite the management and the workforce and in the process, describe what success looks like. It will give them a sense of achievement as they take steps towards the desired destination.

Of course, the vision may be something that takes years to achieve and therefore stepping stones need to be established in the form of goals and objectives for the year, but all set with the vision in mind.

The vision statement is often quite broad, but it is important to keep it as specific as possible. It may for example describe the company as being “the biggest” or “the best in its field”.

It is important to position the statement as a positive. For example: “We will be the biggest” and not “we will try to be” or “we will strive to be”.

Or to quote Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

In my experience, the power of setting and clearly articulating a vision is underestimated, even though the logic involved is self evident. As companies look to build an empowerment culture it becomes essential and the establishment of visions by operating units, all of which contributes to the overall, should be strongly encouraged.

Of course directors must be realistic and have a responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient capability (resource and competencies) to pursue the vision. They must also translate this vision in to strategy and shorter term objectives. Establishing a vision and letting people get on with it is not enough, even in the most empowered structure.

And then of course there is the communication of the vision in a way that generates commitment and support. This means there should be some passion in the communication such that all stakeholders believe it.

This brings me to my three C’s, constant, consistent and congruent.

The vision cannot be hidden away in the Annual Report of the company or rolled out only for PR purposes. The communication of it must be so constant that at least all of the employees and hopefully many of the company’s business partners and other stakeholders know it by heart.

The communication of it must be consistent, that is, it should not be varied or adapted for specific purposes.

And finally, the communication must be congruent, by which I mean that any significant decision or communication that is not totally aligned with the vision will destroy any perception of commitment to it.

Now, the power of vision setting for a commercial organisation seems fairly obvious but I have also seen it used very effectively in charitable and other not-for-profit entities, but it does require some thought. Once thoroughly discussed and agreed upon however, it becomes the beacon that guides all other decisions.

Some visions are thought provoking like BBC’s “To be the most creative organisation in the world” to the more obvious like Toys R Us’s “To put joy in kids’ hearts and a smile on parents’ faces”, to the more world-changing World Bank’s “To end extreme poverty within a generation and boost shared prosperity”.

But my vision right now is to have some, vision that is, such that I can see where the golf ball lands even with my modest abilities.

Roger Gillett is the chairman of IoD Bermuda.