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CHAPTER 13: CREATING VISION AND STRATEGIC DIRECTION 397

Vision Reflects High Ideals Good visions are idealistic. Visions that portray an
uplifting future have the power to inspire and energize people. Referring back to
our opening example, when Kennedy announced the “man on the moon” vision,
NASA had only a small amount of the knowledge it would need to accomplish the
feat. William F. Powers, who worked at NASA during the 1960s, later helped Ford
Motor Company develop an idealistic vision for the world’s fi rst high-volume,
aerodynamically styled car that featured fuel economy (the 1980s Taurus). It was
a big risk for Ford at a time when the company was down and out. But leaders
portrayed this as a chance not only to save the company but to establish a whole
new path in automotive engineering, which tapped into employees’ imaginations
and idealism. 30

Vision Defines the Destination and the Journey A good vision for the future in-

cludes specific outcomes that the organization wants to achieve. It also incorporates
the underlying values that will help the organization get there. For example, a private
business school might specify certain outcomes such as a top 20 ranking,
placing 90 percent of students in summer internships, and getting
80 percent of students into jobs by June of their graduating year. Yet Action Memo
vision so that every individual, team, and
in the process of reaching those specific outcomes, the school wants As a leader, you can create a shared

to increase students’ knowledge of business, values, and teamwork, department is moving in the same direction.
as well as prepare them for lifelong learning. Additionally, the vision
activities, and objectives that will attain
may espouse underlying values such as no separation between fi elds You can help people see the values,
of study or between professors and students, a genuine concern for
students’ welfare, and adding to the body of business knowledge. A the vision.
good vision includes both the desired future outcomes and the underly-
ing values that set the rules for achieving them. 31

A Vision Works at Multiple Levels
Most of the visions we have talked about so far are for the company as a whole.
However, divisions, departments, and individuals also have visions, which are just
as important and powerful. Successful individuals usually have a clear mental
picture of their vision and how to achieve it. People who do not have this clear
vision of the future have less chance of success. Three young Pepperdine Univer-
sity graduates started an organization to help other young people find and pursue

their personal vision.

IN THE LEAD Roadtrip Productions
Several years ago, Mike Marriner, Nathan Gebhard, and Brian McAllister set out in a
1985 neon-green Fleetwood RV on an epic pilgrimage to find out what they wanted

to do with their lives. One thing they knew: They weren’t ready and willing to play it
safe and follow the expected paths of medicine, consulting, and the family landfi ll
business (respectively).
Armed with a video camera, the three interviewed successful leaders in a
wide variety of professions, asking questions such as: “When you were our age,
what were you thinking?” and “How did you get to where you are?” The an-
swers all boiled down to this simple message, says McAllister: “Block out the
noise and really pave your own road guided by what lights you up.” Following their
three-month, 17,342-mile journey across the country, the three founded Roadtrip
Productions to help other young people experience their own journeys and fi nd