Blog #4 - Victory Via Vivid Vision

Last week we examined what makes a team and/or organization effective in their social venture endeavor(s). In the lecture slides there was a diagram titled “Balanced Scorecard”, from The Balanced Scorecard Institute. In that diagram, there were four tables: Financial, Internal Business Processes, Learning and Growth, and Customer. In the center of the model was a box titled “Vision and Strategy”. Personally, I felt that this model fell short of properly connecting all of the stakeholders and organization members. However, it does accurately illustrate the importance and centrality of vision, and the leadership it takes to maintain such vision. Upholding a specific, vivid vision is essential to any organization because it allows them to preserve their core ideology, but stay flexible and adaptable with regard to their prospective future.

            One of our readings for week 5 was titled, “14 Ways To Be A Great Startup CEO” by Jason Baptiste. In this article, Baptiste talks about common, identifiable traits found in successful startup CEOs. Some of these characteristics included assuaging and diffusing stress and pain for the team, referring to specialists’ expertise, saying no to decisions that could potentially jeopardize the mission, etc. The reoccurring theme throughout the article was emphasizing the importance of vision. For example, one of the key traits for a great CEO was to “Be A Keeper of the Company Vision”. Great leaders have keen discernment of whether or not certain projects work well within the confines of the organization’s vision. But you might ask: Why must these leaders be so stringent with their vision?

            Building off this question, I came across a piece in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) called, “Mission Matters Most” by Kim Jonker and William F. Meehan III. In the article, it talks about recent social ventures have adopted overly broad mission statements lacking clarity and specificity. It also mentions how most volunteers, employees and even customers in some cases fail to fully grasp the mission of the organization, which usually causes lack of enthusiasm/commitment to the cause. Going back to answer the question posed above, the reason that great leaders feel the need to be strict with their vision is because many organizations tend to overextend their operating capacity to programs and initiatives that are often unrelated to their original vision. My argument, in congruence with these experts, is that the wisest CEOs know the innate value of their vision and constantly strive to preserve it. I personally relate to this argument because my social venture idea, Impact Youth, was initially an ambiguous youth program; it had a straightforward mission, but the vision itself was not very apparent.
            This brings me to my final and most important takeaway from this past week: clearly articulating my organization’s vision. In James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras’ Harvard Business Review article titled, “Building Your Company’s Vision”, they discussed what exactly a strong vision is comprised of. Basically, a vivid vision is split into two primary parts: (1) Core Ideology, which is the defining nature/character of the organization, and (2) Envisioned Future, which describes what the future will look like when the organization’s objective is realized. Within Core Ideology, there are the two sub-categories of core values (internal, intrinsic principles justified within the org) and core purpose (an org’s reason for being and what difference they hope to make). It is essential that, before we move any further with our social venture ideas, we must establish this clear vision. I would like to conclude these blog posts with one final question: Is your vision, regardless of how outlandish it may sound, enticing enough to attract loyal followers and supporters?