Summary

Many believe a strong purpose is enough to set direction. In reality, it rarely holds: teams read it differently and decisions drift. What lasts is vision used as an operating contract—choices backed by evidence. That bridges purpose and strategy, turning intent into funded priorities and credible progress.

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Our Perspective

What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.

The Real Gap

Purpose tells people why you exist; vision tells them where you’re going and what it means for their next decision. The trouble is, many leadership teams mistake belief for direction. That gap shows up not as slogans, but as slow choices, fuzzy handovers, and promises that can’t be evidenced. Predictable Profits, drawing on Salesforce research, notes that only 5% of employees genuinely understand their company’s strategy—so ambiguity compounds quickly.

We often see leadership teams assume alignment because the top table “gets it.” Yet if vision isn’t explicit about markets, bets, and the order of play, each function will infer its own path. That’s when costs creep, timelines slip, and credibility erodes with customers and partners.

From Why To Where

Vision earns its keep when it translates purpose into a line of sight across time horizons. It should be vivid enough to focus resources, and practical enough to guide quarter-by-quarter trade-offs. Think of it as an operating contract for decisions, not a paragraph for the website.

Three lenses help keep it honest:

• Direction: define the future markets you’ll participate in and the value you intend to create.
• Pace: set the sequencing—what starts now, what waits, and what you’ll stop doing.
• Proof: specify the evidence you’ll produce as you go—signals, milestones, and measures.

Translate Into Choices

Vision only matters if it reallocates attention and budget. Leaders can make that real by turning ambiguity into choices that compound.

• Name the noes: codify the opportunities you’ll decline for the next 12–18 months and why.
• Anchor the roadmap: tie each initiative to a bet and a customer outcome, not a department’s wish-list.
• Define decision rights: clarify who decides, who contributes, and the turnaround times for cross-functional handovers.

In our experience with high-growth organisations, this discipline accelerates delivery because teams no longer negotiate aims in every meeting—they execute against an agreed future.

Signals In The Market

Externally, credibility is earned in instalments. Vision should translate into a trail of proof that tells customers and partners you’re moving with intent, not hope.

• Publish milestone markers: product, partnership, or geographic signals that ladder up to the future state.
• Show traction in context: customer outcomes, not vanity metrics, against the direction you’ve set.
• Maintain a simple narrative: one story that explains the bet, the progress, and what comes next.

When vision clarifies choices and evidence, brand stops being a cosmetic exercise and becomes a system that compounds trust, focuses spend, and creates room for growth to continue under pressure.

Sources:

• Why vision alignment drives business growth — Predictable Profits (citing Salesforce)

Further Resources

1. Aligning Brand and Strategy to Overcome Misalignment
2. Aligning Vision and Results to Prevent Brand Drift
3. Uncovering the Hidden Costs of Brand–Strategy Misalignment

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