The Importance of the Vision of a CEO for Their Companies

Hello, my name is Glenn Gow, I am a CEO coach who spent 25 years in that role. Today, I am going to talk about the importance of vision for the CEO. 

The CEO’s Vision is a Motivating Factor for the Team

It’s the CEO’s responsibility to create a vision for a company. And the reason it’s important is that it’s a motivating factor for employees. For the current employees and for potential future employees. The CEO wants to tell a story about the possible future. See, people tend to work looking a short time ahead of themselves. They tend to work, thinking that things are going to be similar to the way they are today, and that’s not terribly motivating to people. 

The CEO is painting a picture called a vision of a possible future. That’s much more exciting than the one we’re living in now. That possible future can include just about anything. It can include a description of what the company looks like, how the company may dominate a certain market, or how the company may create an impact on people and companies. What a vision does, if a vision is done well, it’s, it gets people excited to get up in the morning and be part of the journey on the way to the vision. 

The CEO’s Vision Gives Their Company Purpose

Now, one of my favorite authors, Daniel Pink, writes about what motivates people. And there’s one keyword that he writes about which is purpose. And part of what a vision does is it creates a purpose. Now the best kind of purpose is one that is bigger than the company itself. When I ran my company, we struggled with that issue. Not every company has a purpose that’s bigger than the company itself, but if you do have a purpose, if you see how by the company succeeding, you’re doing something special, something bigger, then you wanna tell that story. So purpose is the best kind of vision to incorporate a purpose into how we’re impacting the lives of other people in a positive way. If you can’t do that, it’s okay. You still paint a picture of the possible future. You still enable people to get excited about the work they’re doing, knowing that things are gonna be different in the future. As we, as a team, build together, as we, as a team, work to that vision. It also has a great benefit in aligning people. 

The CEO’s Vision Helps Align Company Goals

Most departments have conflicting objectives, and that causes friction when one organization or department or function is trying to accomplish something. Another function might not be able to help them with that because they have slightly different goals. However, if everyone inside the company is focused on the bigger vision, it helps to bring people together. It helps to enable people from different functions to want to work together, to fulfill on that vision. 

Importance of Authenticity in the CEO’s Vision

So as a CEO, I encourage you to spend a lot of time getting your vision right. It has to come from your heart. This can’t be something you make up because you’re trying just to motivate people. It has to be something you truly believe in because people will see through, I’ll call it a made-up vision, and they won’t see your commitment to it. They won’t see the emotional connection to it. So spend time thinking about how what is that vision and how can I express it in a way that causes people to wanna work together, to get excited about working, to fulfill on that vision, and have it be meaningful to you. That’s why vision is so important for CEOs. My name is Glenn Gow. Thank you.

Contact CEO Coach Glenn Gow Today!

My name is Glenn Gow, CEO Coach. I love coaching CEOs and want to help make you an even better CEO. Let’s decide if we are a fit for each other. Schedule a time to talk with me at calendly.com/glenngow. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Table of Contents