First and foremost, colleges and universities need a great vision. Vision drives strategy. Vision attract resources. Vision provides direction.

1. A Short Stack PPT Developed by the
Center for Strategic Change
at George Fox University
Developing a Compelling Vision
Statement

2. The Center for Strategic Change at George Fox University has a simple mission: To
help college and university leaders succeed.
We will accomplish this mission by serving as both a platform and resource for
strategic innovation. As a platform, we will provide current practitioners an
opportunity to present their ideas and insights to the higher education community.
As a resource, we will provide curated content in the areas of leadership, visioning,
strategic planning, and organizational design.
ShortStack: A ShortStack is a concise, 25 slides or so, PowerPoint presentation that
focuses on a specific topic or issue. ShortStacks are designed to brings teams up to
speed on a specific topic or issue.

3. Vision-Centric Strategic Planning
 This book will serve as the foundation for this
presentation
 www.strategypublishing.com

4. Without vision, people perish.
– Proverbs 29:18

5. There is no more powerful
engine driving an
organization toward
excellence and long-range
success than an attractive,
worthwhile, and achievable
vision of the future that is
widely shared. – Burt Nanus

6. Included on any list of why strategic plans
fail is the lack of a compelling vision.

7. What Is a Vision
 A vision is a realistic, credible, compelling and shared future for
your organization.
 A vision statement answers the question, “What will success
look like?”

8. Importance of a Vision Statement
 Karl Albrecht uses the image of “the
northbound train” to describe the
importance of a vision to an organization.
 A northbound train conveys an unwavering
commitment to a particular direction.
 The idea of a moving train also conveys a
strong sense of momentum – of
unstoppable, implacable movement
toward an unambiguous direction or goal.

9. A Vision Is Not …
 A mission. Missions describe why you do what you do; visions describe where
you are going. A mission is your raison d'être.
 Factual. Great visions are inspirational.
 While they may have factual elements, they are designed to inspire.
 All inclusive. Rather, it focuses and limits.
 Philosophical. Instead, it is intuitive and declarative.
 Static. Visions are dynamic. They are always slightly out of reach. They lean
forward.
 Your whole story. Rather, it is just enough of your story that people say, “Tell me
more.”

10. Overcoming the Gravity Issue
 People in organizations tend to orbit
the familiar and the safe.
 Because of this, a vision must be
compelling enough to pull people out
of their comfortable orbits.
 To do so, a vision must create a sense
or urgency around a more enticing
view of the future.

11. Attributes of a Great Vision
 Imaginable. It defines the optimal desired future state and provides a mental picture of
what an organization wants to achieve over time.
 Directional. It functions as the "northbound train” and offers clear direction.
 Appropriate. It builds on your mission and core values.
 Desirable. It appeals to the long-term interest of those who have a stake in the enterprise.
 Differentiating. Your vision compellingly distinguishes you from your top competitors.
 Feasible. Your vision contains realistic and attainable goals.
 Communicable. Your vision is easy to communicate and can be explained quickly.
 Vivid. Your vision is written succinctly in an inspirational manner that makes it easy for all
employees to repeat it at any given time.

12. MLK “I Have a Dream” Speech
 Likely one of the best vision
statements ever
 Delivered on Aug. 28, 1963,
on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial
 The speech is 17 minutes
long and imagines a future
that inspired millions.

13. How Compelling Are the Following
Visions?
 Oxfam: A just world without poverty
 XXYYZZ College, a respected leader in Pennsylvania, will be nationally
recognized for our commitment to student success and excellence in
teaching, empowering learners to enrich the social, cultural and economic
vitality of our region and the global community.
 U of Phoenix: Education for busy adults
 How compelling is your current vision statement?

14. Developing a
Compelling Vision

15. An Eight-Step Visioning Process
1. Assemble the vision team.
2. Create the master planning calendar.
3. Listen and learn.
4. Identify your “compellings.”
5. Write the first draft of your vision statement.
6. Solicit input.
7. Revise and refine your vision statement.
8. Adopt and communicate.

16. Assemble the Team
 The process begins with the creation, by the president, of the
visioning team.
 In most cases the team includes the senior team, as well as
faculty leadership. Depending on your specific context, the
team may or may not include alumni, trustees and donors.
 Ideally, you want to keep the team as small as possible.
 Remember, though, that while not everyone should be on
the team, everyone should be represented by someone on
the team.

17. Create the Master Planning Calendar
 Next, the team creates the master planning
calendar.
 This calendar shows how long the planning process
will take and highlights key milestones.

18. Listen and Learn
 Next, the team reviews existing mission, core values, and
vision statements (your strategic core) and holds interviews
with internal stakeholders and external audiences.
 Other, more formal research is likely to be conducted at this
time.
 Part of the “listen and learn” often includes reviewing the
vision statements of competing schools and other
institutions and organizations.

19. Identify Your Compellings
 At this point you should begin to identify your “compellings,” those
qualities and characteristics that are of keen interest to both your
internal and external audiences.
 Remember, the goal is compelling and not merely distinctive.
 The size of your library may be distinctive, but students increasingly
use libraries for other things beyond checking out books.
 A very high medical school placement rate is compelling.
 A list of sample visioning questions may be found in Appendix A.

20. Write the First Draft of Your Vision Statement
 Now it is time to write first draft of the new vision. After this draft is completed,
the team asks itself:
 Does this vision statement clarify who we are and what we value?
 Is the vision simple, obvious and intuitive?
 Will this vision change us? If so, how?
 Will this vision be durable enough to help us meet the challenges ahead?
 Does it differentiate us from key competitors in ways that our most important
audiences will find compelling?
 Will it inspire and motivate?

21. Solicit Input
 After the vision statement is refined in the previous step, it is now
time to “walk” the draft vision around campus and solicit input from
faculty, staff and others.
 This step is important for two reasons:
 It increases the likelihood that the vision will be accepted among
key campus constituencies and key external audiences.
 The iterative nature of Step 6 is a great refining process.
 Many of the questions asked in the previous step are asked again.
 Of particular interest is this question: Will this vision overcome the
gravity issue?

22. Revise and Refine Your Story
 With input from internal and external audiences, the visioning
team develops a final draft.
 Care must be taken at this step not to be distracted by
wordsmithing. Too much wordsmithing can squeeze the life out
of a great vision statement.

23. Adopt and Communicate
 At this point the vision is formally adopted by the campus
community and then aggressively communicated to both
internal and external audiences over time.
 A handy formula will help you understand the importance of
communicating your vision:
Vision + Communication = Shared Purpose
 Communicate widely, often, and with creativity.

24. A Vision Checklist
 An ideal vision…
 Provides clear direction
 Builds on institutional history,
culture, and core values
 Institutionally intuitive
 Prioritizes
 Is clear, understandable (simple) and explainable
 Is achievable within existing resource base
 Is exciting
 Provides a point of compelling differentiation
 Will attract resources (talent, students and donated dollars)

25. Appendix A – Sample Visioning Questions
 Why were you founded? Do the reasons for your founding still exist?
 If you were founded today, what would you stand for?
 If you would go out of business today, who would miss you?
 What one word currently describes you? What one word do you wish would
describe you?
 What part of your story do you have the most difficulty telling? Proving?
 Why do people give to your institution?
 Why do your best faculty and staff stay?
 What is the thing about your institution that your competitors wish
they had/could do/could say?
 What are your competitive advantages?