Can you answer this question?

Better yet, can your entire team answer this question in the same way?

Where are we going as a company?

Sounds simple, but 99% of teams answer this question in two ways:

1. They literally have no idea
2. Every person gives a wildly different response

Old-school business leaders would point to a vision statement to answer this question. But that misses the mark in so many ways.

In this post, we’ll dive into how to create an inspiring vision that people actually want to follow. And, after 20 years of trial and error, I finally found a format that really nails it.

At the end of the article, I walk you through the Vision Ladder framework and template, so you can create one for your own company!

Ready? Here we go…

What is a Company Vision?

At the most basic level, a company vision is the future your team wants to build together.  It’s going from the current state, to some desired state in the future.

So, your vision is the description of point B, the desired state. This is where you’re ultimately going as a team and it should be clear and well-understood by everyone.

Most people limit this to a simple one-sentence vision statement. But this is usually so high-level it loses its effectiveness. It’s also easily confused with the mission statement (see below). 

Even Jim Collins, famous business author (who I normally agree with btw), confuses vision. He defines vision as:

Jim’s Definition: Vision = organization’s mission + values + long-term goals. 

But this is mixing way too many concepts into one. My litmus test is this: if the team can’t use the company vision as a way to answer the question, where are we going… then it’s useless.  Sorry Jim (I still love you).

What‘s the Difference Between a Vision and a Mission Statement? 

If you do a Google search, it’ll likely leave you with even more questions. 

Are mission and vision the same?
What exactly makes them different? 

I explained the difference between the two in this article, but it’s never a bad time for a refresher. 

The simplest way to differentiate mission and vision is knowing what question each answers while also understanding how they work together to drive your business forward. 

A mission statement answers the question, “Why do we exist?” It’s THE guiding light for the business. It’s forever pursued but likely never achieved. It should be relevant in 100 years (and I call them 100-year missions, just to make that point to the team).

Your company vision answers the question, “Where are we going?” and maps the milestones (or steps) you must achieve to get closer and closer to your mission.  

It looks something like this:

So, vision isn’t just a single point. It’s actually MULTIPLE points along the way to achieving your mission. This is important, and something that’s almost always missed with traditional vision statements…

Why traditional vision statements fail

The traditional vision statement is a static one line description about the future (all too similar to a mission statement – hence the confusion). Very different from our expanded definition above: MULTIPLE points along the way to achieving your mission. Not a static point in the very distant future.

But great visions are more like a playbook, not just a one-liner about the future. For maximum effectiveness, your vision should provide a sense of sequence and strategic focus – both of which the traditional vision statement fails to do. As a result, a traditional vision statement ends up collecting dust on a shelf somewhere – not guiding the company’s execution like it should be!

As you’ll see in the rest of this article, the Vision Ladder framework is much different than a traditional “vision statement”. It not only describes that far off point in the future (desired state), it describes the major points along the way (V1, V2, V3, etc.) so your team understands sequence and strategy! It translates vision into action, something that a traditional vision simply does not do.

So let’s dive into the framework…

The ‘Vision Ladder’ Framework

I started a company at 24, and it wasn’t long before I realized I had a vision problem. It’s not that I didn’t have a vision for the company… far from it, actually.

The problem was my vision wasn’t clear to my team. I thought I was dialed in, and they thought I was all over the place. I mistook clarity in my head for clarity of communication.  

So, I came up with the Vision Ladder so this wouldn’t happen again. 

By following this method, you’ll be able to clearly communicate your company vision while also building out a sequence of steps that maps your company’s progress towards achieving its mission. 

This method gives you one powerful slide that’ll help your team:

• Know where they’re headed 
• Know what comes next
• Know how to spend their time

The Vision Ladder will seem remarkably simple, but that’s the point. Just remember the motto we teach in our founder community, Highland, as you’re putting yours together…

Simplicity scales!  

Here’s how to create a Vision Ladder for your own company in four steps:

1. Make a copy of the Vision Ladder template

Start by making a copy of my Vision Ladder template.

Go to “File / Make a copy” and then you can start filling it out for your own organization.

As you’ll see in the template, the Vision Ladder looks like this:

Instead of a vague, one-line vision statement, the Vision Ladder lays out four time-based milestones we call vision steps: 3-year, 5-year, 10-year, and 20-year visions. Each vision step builds on the one before it, creating a strategic sequence that shows not only where the company is going, but how it plans to get there.

First we do this (3-year)
Then we’ll do this (5-year)
Next we’ll do this (10-year)
Lastly we’ll do this (20-year)

Without any further detail, the reader should get a sense of the company’s long-term strategic plan. Once you accomplish the 3-year vision, the 5-year vision becomes more realistic (because they tie together somehow), and so on and so forth.

Now let’s start writing your vision steps…

2. Write your vision steps

The first step in the Vision Ladder is your 3-year vision statement. I suggest making your 3-year vision statement about the products and services you’ll launch, and/or the markets you’ll conquer. That could look something like this: 

Build the best [X product] for [Y target audience]

Become the #[X] company in the [Y target market]

Become the most customer-loved company in the [Y target market]

Once you’ve perfected your 3-year company vision, it’s time to look ahead and write your 5, 10, and 20-year vision steps.  Dream bigger and bigger outcomes the further out you get – customer impact, market expansion, new product lines, etc. Just make sure each step aligns with your mission and answers the question: Where are we going?

But how about an actually example?

This Vision Ladder is from the company I founded, Classy (acquired by GoFundMe in 2022, and now called GoFundMe Pro). Our Vision Ladder was first created a few years after we launched in 2011 as a software company for nonprofit organizations. And, I’m proud to say that all of the steps on our Vision Ladder were actually accomplished! The first three rungs on the ladder were achieved prior to the acquisition by GoFundMe. The last rung, however, became a large part of the rationale for doing the acquisition in the first place – and we’re realizing this vision as we speak!

Note: Some people prefer to start with the 20-year vision step and work backwards. There’s no right or wrong way to fill out the Vision Ladder, so long as it makes sense sequentially and builds upon itself.

3. Understand the time percentages

The percentages on the right side of the Vision Ladder represent the approximate amount of time and energy the organization is spending on each vision step. 

As you would expect, the company should be spending most of its time on the first one, the 3-year vision (roughly 80% of its time). This is what most of the company is executing to on an annual, quarterly and monthly basis.

But the Vision Ladder also gives the organization permission to spend about 20% of its time working on the future vision.

• 5-year: ~10% of its time 
• 10-year: ~6% of its time
• 20-year: ~4% of its time

The right balance of focus between the “now” (within 3-years) and the “future” (5-years+) is crucial. Here are two problems that will arise if you don’t get this balance right across your team:

Problem #1 – Head in the Clouds – The whole team is too future-focused and always wants to skip over the here & now to work on the exciting future direction. They gloss over current challenges and blockers the organization faces in favor of less stressful creative projects. These types of teams have their heads in the clouds and ultimately leave too many cracks in the foundation to ever get to where they want to go. 

Problem #2 – Head in the Sand – The team is too obsessed with putting out every single fire across the organization and doesn’t give itself permission and the space to properly plan for the future. The team can’t pick its head up to even think about the future. And it becomes a cultural issue: “how can you talk about 10 years from now when we have all of these current issues going on?!?!!”. This is unhealthy and leaves the team without context and motivation.

But remember, these percentages are just approximations to help the team understand the ROUGH time and resource allocation. You can change the percentages if you want, just don’t split hairs. The most important thing is maintaining an orientation that looks something like this:

1. 80% focused on now (within 3-years), 
2. 20% focused on future (5-20 years) 

You, as the leader, may operate more in the future over time. But for your team, this 80-20 balance is about right. 

4. Learn how to read the Vision Ladder

Now that you have the Vision Ladder filled out, let’s learn to read it correctly to your team. Let’s revisit the Classy example.

The Vision Ladder reads like this…

In 3 years, we’re going to build the world’s best fundraising products for nonprofits… and the team is spending about 80% of our time on it right now.

In 5 years, we’re going to make our fundraising products accessible to any sized organization, anywhere… and we’re spending about 10% of our time on it right now.

In 10 years, we’re going to create billions of dollars in recurring donation support for nonprofits… and we’re spending about 60% of our time on it right now.

In 20 years, we’re going to integrate giving into every day life, like your home, retail, social and work … and we’re spending about 4% of our time on it right now.

This isn’t exactly how you’d speak, but its close enough. From here you can make it your own. Over time you’ll start weaving this narrative into your day to day conversations, important team meetings, even fundraising pitches! And your team will be able to recite this back to you without even trying.

Where are we going as a company? Everyone knows the answer now!

5. Brand the Vision Ladder for your own company

You’re more than welcome to use the design in my template, but the Vision Ladder packs more of a punch with the team when you put a little design love into it! Here’s that same Classy example, but what it looked like to the team (and even to the public)!

We’d then give the entire team access to this slide in Google docs and encourage them to print it out so they always had it visible.

6. Refresh the slide each year

Company growth is far from linear, so it’s important to revisit your Vision Ladder every year and adjust accordingly. 

Refreshing the Vision Ladder should happen at least annually (or every six months). The ideal time for a refresh is in the Q4 time-frame, prior to the close of the year. This way you can use the updated Vision Ladder to inform things like annual goals (WhyGos), financial planning, etc. 

You should consider the Vision ladder a living document, and should never feel “locked-in” by what you wrote years ago. It’s natural for the Vision Ladder to evolve over time as your understanding of the market and your strategy evolves. And, of course, when you accomplish your three year vision, you’ll want to replace with a new 3-year (usually dropping the 5-year down, and so on).

7. Some closing thoughts…

• Your company vision should answer the question: Where are we going? If it doesn’t, then it’s time for an upgrade.
  
• Your company vision isn’t just a single point in the distant future. It’s a series of points that get you closer and closer to your mission.
  
• Adopting the Vision Ladder should inspire your team to think big about your company’s future but also effectively illustrate what it takes to get there. 
  
• Be sure to revisit your Vision Ladder annually and make changes with your team as things evolve.
  
• Your vision should resonate across your team, creating a shared understanding of where you’re going and how you’ll get there.

Here’s the Vision Ladder template again – hope its valuable for you and your organization!

How I can help you 

Are you a founder, executive, or manager? I’d love to support your professional growth. 

Here are three ways: 

1. Connect on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram – join 150,000 people where I’m posting simple tips about leadership and startups every day.

2. Subscribe to my free newsletter – every week I do a deep dive on management, operations & startup topics that’s helping tens of thousands become better leaders.

3. Join Highland – my private community and leadership program for badass founders and CEOs. Scale into the tens of millions & beyond with us.