Being a good business leader can mean a lot of different things. If we search for a definition of a “good business leader” on Google, there are more than 740 million search results. Among all the noises of latest studies and surveys, we believe there is only one quality that sets apart a great business leader and executive from the good ones: do they have a vision or not?

Frederic

Being a good business leader can mean a lot of different things. If we search for a definition of a “good business leader” on Google, there are more than 740 million search results. Among all the noises of latest studies and surveys, we believe there is only one quality that sets apart a great business leader and executive from the good ones: do they have a vision or not?
Let us not confuse vision with business strategies and strategic planning. All Chief Executives have a business strategy and roadmaps to help realise them. But strategies and roadmaps are not visions. They are short and mid-term plans (from 5 to 15 years) to reach a specific goal.
For example, Estée Lauder designs new product lines that align with <a href="https://www.elcompanies.com/en/our-commitments">their stated commitments</a> of reducing plastic packaging, celebrating different skin colours and complexions, or sourcing from more inclusive purchasing programs. These strategies look promising to their clients and investors. Yet, one cannot deny that they are born out of necessity to answer to upcoming regulations and laws and the emerging demands from clients and potential clients. One way or another, a company like Estée Lauder or any other cosmetic company will have to prepare themselves for these roadmaps. As necessary as they are, these strategies are not business visions.
A proper business vision, on the other hand, surpasses current constraints and conditions. It aims at creating a lasting organisation whose presence contributes to the betterment of societies and the environment in which it operates. To examine whether you have a business vision, here’s a set of simple questions:
<ol><li>How will your business be perceived in the next 25 years? 50 years? 100 years?</li></ol>
<ol><li>What cause and legacy will your company and you help contribute in the next 100 years?</li></ol>
<ol><li>If your company disappears tomorrow, how could that affect humanity in the next 100 years?</li></ol>
If you don’t have an answer to any of these questions, you don’t have a vision yet, and it might be time to build one.
<h1>What is a vision?</h1>
As you can guess from the questions above, two essential elements make up a business vision that can create a long-lasting company. First, it is a set of things, causes and legacies that inspire you as a business leader. These are your aspirations, things that drive you and make you wake up in the morning. Second, they are also a part of a cause and a collective endeavour for the greater good. This way, your vision can inspire others to onboard with you - your clients, your employees and talents, your investors etc.
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/f6dd7391b4f316155776741ab4a46fdf401f0d21.png" alt="Figure 1: A Ven Diagram showing the intersection to build a business vision for a long-lasting company: personal aspirations and a cause for the greater good.">
The second element is frequently underestimated, yet it is precisely the aspect that ensures that your vision and your company will last in the next generations of employees, clients and investors, even if it is no longer you who leads the way. Patagonia and its purpose of <a href="https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/ownership/">having Earth as its only shareholder</a> have been praised worldwide in September 2022. Debates on the retail nature of the business and its environmental impacts aside, this vision will inspire many clients, talents and investors and help secure the company’s position as one of the industry’s leaders for many years to come.
The original vision of Steve Jobs for Apple was “To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind&quot;, which has inspired generations of designers, engineers and developers, as it involves a legacy that is larger than the life of the company itself. Since Jobs passed away in 2011, the vision has turned towards “To bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services”. This new vision is no longer attached to a greater good but focuses solely on its customers and offers. Only time can answer the effect of this change, yet one thing is for sure, the new vision is much more short-term, matter-of-factly, and hence, less desirable.
<h1>How to build a vision?</h1>
The building process of a vision can happen differently from person to person, yet can be jotted down into two main steps:
<h2>Step 1 - Expansion: search for new horizons</h2>
To design a long-term and inspiring vision, you must search for inspiration from areas far from your current scope of operation. Staying within the studies and analysis of your industry will limit your imagination and hence only give you short-term, matter-of-factly ideas. Instead, the question at this stage is, “what are the topics and subjects that drive me, and are parts of the most existential questions of our society?”. To get inspired, you are encouraged to search for different materials such as philosophy, science fiction, and essays on virtually no limitation of topics.
Once you judge that the exploration’s results are satisfactory, the next step is to distil what you have learnt into two areas - your aspirations and the cause for the greater good and find the junction between these two elements to draw up your vision.
This exploration might continuously last for several months or days in a focused and intentional manner, depending on your personal preferences. For those who have zero time to search for inspiration due to their hectic schedule, it is compulsory to decide to “stop” the time and create a time-space of a few hours or days in which you can entirely focus on finding inspiration.
<h2>Step 2 - Execution: prepare the foundations for your vision</h2>
Once the vision has been defined, the next step is to prepare the foundations to make it a reality. The question to ask now is, “what are the capabilities of my company and myself that can help make this vision a reality?”. As the question suggested, you are expected to define a) the strategic and differentiating capabilities of you and your company to execute this vision - what “superpowers” do you and your company have, compared to the rest of the industry, that are instrumental in concretising this vision? and b) the strategic and vital resources needed, such as talents, investments, a different skillset etc., that would help accelerate the execution of your vision.
For example, the purpose of LEGO is “&#x27;to inspire and to develop the builders of tomorrow”. Despite a world in which most kids are now playing video games, the 90-year-old Danish continues the simplicity of their products’ components as plastic building bricks while hiring the best designers to create curious and daring themes and imaginaries and launching new collections every year. This way, the “small giant” continues to enjoy extreme loyalty from generations of customers and increasing revenues (27% annual growth in 2021). They have earned a place in shaping the minds of future builders.
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
A recent study by McKinsey showed that the average lifespan of S&amp;P 500 companies dropped to<a href="https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/articles/why-you-will-probably-live-longer-than-most-big-companies/"> less than 18 years in 2016</a>, compared to 61 years in 1958. It is forecasted that “75% of the companies currently quoted on the S&amp;P 500 will have disappeared” in 2027, either because of buy-outs, M&amp;A or bankruptcy.
Businesses of our times are undoubtedly designed to be short-lived, answering demands constrained by current conditions and then disappearing. As a business leader, one can continue down this path and be contented with this setup. Or, they can decide to change the course: becoming an organisation, an entity, an enterprise that lasts and helps solve the most crucial puzzles of our societies. This decision to change identity - from a fleeing entity to a long-lasting, responsible and desirable one, would be the first step in creating a legacy worth praising and remembering for generations to come.
Future Thought Leaders is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of rising Energy &amp; Sustainability writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

CEOs, do you have a vision?

Businesses are being asked from all fronts - clients, employees, stakeholders and policymakers - to propose a new industrial model that is more desirable, more daring and more respectful towards the environment and social well-being. This is, by no means, a simple task, because of two main obstacles. 

Businesses are being asked from all fronts - clients, employees, stakeholders and policymakers - to propose a new industrial model that is more desirable, more daring and more respectful towards the environment and social well-being. This is, by no means, a simple task, because of two main obstacles.
<h1>What is preventing you from creating a desirable future?</h1>
The first obstacle in creating a desirable future is the fixation on the current business values, which will no longer be relevant to future clients and stakeholders in a near future. Many industry leaders still spend millions each year to stay ahead of the curve, despite the strong signals showing that the market is, however, shifting to another curve.
What constitutes this new curve, then? In a previous article, we have provided a <a href="https://illuminem.com/energyvoices/03504914-a0d0-4c1b-9624-5c4122584d80">6-value model</a>, listing six new values of tomorrow that could make a brand more desirable: from brand name to intrinsic values, from client-first to people and planet-first, from rapidity to proximity, etc. To help them envision a truly desirable future, we suggest that leaders examine these new values and choose the ones that make the most sense to them personally and to their business.
The second obstacle is what we call “the invisible wall of optimisation”, in which the effort of optimising a faulty existing system will become more and more costly with a result that becomes less and less significant.
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/d92cdab281dabd05496fd158a01fa18f7c1f40fd.png" alt="Figure 1: Safran Helicoper Engine (previously Turbomeca) and their invisible wall of optimisation (2013).">
The graph shows the case of Safran Helicopter Engines in 2013. The red curve is their optimisation effort in order to reduce the environmental impact of their engine, while the red triangles are the objectives fixed by European regulations. It was clear that the company cannot keep on optimising its existing models. The company’s leaders, therefore, decided to reinvent their products, by redesigning the engine and also parts of the helicopter itself, in order to reach a <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-entreprises-et-histoire-2013-4-page-13.htm">50% reduction in fuel consumption</a>.
This “invisible wall of optimisation” applies also to the industrial system as a whole. It is futile to try to change the current industrial machine whose focal point is solely put on productivity and profitability. This design default leaves no space left for the new desirable values. Therefore, businesses must opt for Reinvention in order to create a desirable future based on new values. This is an effort to reimagine, redesign and build new systems by eliminating the obsession with productivity and profitability, while introducing more desirable values, ones that are more respectful, less energy and resource-demanding and more humane.
And yet, not all Reinvention efforts are “born” equal. Some will bring exponentially superior results to others.
<h1>A shortcut to your desirable future: aiming at a 10X result</h1>
In a previous article, we have explained different types of reinvention - product, process and business model. We concluded by saying that the reinvention of the business model is by far <a href="https://illuminem.com/energyvoices/44e4e474-7977-46bf-ae16-262a23b5580b">the most powerful lever</a> in order to reach meaningful environmental and social objectives. All thanks to the systemic transformations across the whole value chain.
But that was in terms of expected results. What about effort? What if to realise a business model reinvention, business leaders will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of investments, along with decades of R&amp;D and marketing tests in comparison to other levers?
Here are two good news: first, businesses have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars, spent decades of R&amp;D and marketing tests for way less; and two, the level of desirability that we can achieve is not directly proportional to the level of effort that we have to spend.
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/566cb1c91a1b24567bd59363b0916effcdcc3841.png" alt="Figure 2: The exponential efficiency of reaching for the 10X result: 10X result does not require 10X effort. Meanwhile, the gray and green zones represent a paradigm shift: the 10X results, very likely, mean a shift in historical models - in which the product/service and process will not stay the same.">
To reach the 10X level of desirability does not mean that companies will have to spend a 10X effort. Danone can spend millions of dollars, years of R&amp;D and marketing to reduce the amount of raw material for single-use plastic packaging (optimisation) for their yogurt products. Or they can spend the same in order to find out the perfect biodegradable replacement for single-use plastic packaging (partial product reinvention) to reach a 2X level of desirability.
Or they can focus their efforts on creating a 10X more desirable vision: creating yogurt products that are based on seasonal fruits and local milk sourcing, which will be distributed and sold locally. Hence without single-use packaging (business model and supply chain reinvention). The product, the process and the supply chain, in this case, will not stay the same, which indicates a massive shift in Danone’s historical models to reach a new level of desirability.
This focus on creating the 10X level of desirability will create transformational results, yet will not demand a much more colossal effort in comparison to other pathways. In addition, not diverging efforts will save time and energy in order to reach the desired goal faster. This applies to individual endeavours as we know them, and also to collective ones such as a company’s vision of a truly desirable future.
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
Once the decision on a Reinvention path is made, the question that needs to be asked is not how to adapt the current business machine to reach a desirable future. It is easy to fall back on the optimisation fallacies, with reasoning based on the constraints of the current system.
The good question, instead, should be how to create a new organisation and mechanism that would allow the development and acceleration of a desirable future. Asking this right question will help business leaders to build the right team capable of such a task and find the right resources to foster the introduction of a truly desirable business vision.
Future Thought Leaders is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of rising Energy &amp; Sustainability writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

Here’s a shortcut to achieve a desirable future for your business

There is no denying that we are living in a turbulent time of fast changes and paradigm shifts. Things that mattered yesterday can be of little value today. The productivity-driven industrial model designed in the 19th century - a model upon which we have built our businesses and societies for the last 200 years is being very much questioned today by the younger generations of consumers. 

There is no denying that we are living in a turbulent time of fast changes and paradigm shifts. Things that mattered yesterday can be of little value today. The productivity-driven industrial model designed in the 19th century - a model upon which we have built our businesses and societies for the last 200 years is being very much questioned today by the younger generations of consumers.
Industry and business leaders of our times, therefore, are being challenged to come up with a vision that is more desirable than that 200-year-old narrative. The clients are asking for more: more respect for social wellbeing, more consideration towards nature, better quality, more equality. More adventures and daring concepts, but more respectful ones all the while.
As clients are becoming more engaged, they expect the same from businesses. According to a study by Deloitte, <a href="https://deloitte.wsj.com/articles/consumers-expect-brands-to-address-climate-change-01618945334">65% of respondents</a> expect CEOs to “do more to make progress on societal issues, including reducing carbon emissions, tackling air pollution, and making business supply chains more sustainable.” These expectations are indeed backed by policy makers, with more and more stringent climate and environment policies. By 2019, there exists a total of 1925 climate change mitigation policies reported by EU Member States (a <a href="https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/more-national-climate-policies-expected">27% increase between 2017 and 2019</a>).
Indeed, businesses do try to respond to those demands. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dishashetty/2021/03/24/a-fifth-of-worlds-largest-companies-committed-to-net-zero-target/?sh=5758dba9662f">By 2021, one-fifth</a> of the 2000 largest publicly traded companies had made a &quot;Net Zero&quot; commitment. Surely, promises are one thing and concrete actions must be followed, but this is still one of the weak signals showing that businesses need to shift towards a new narrative to stay relevant in the future.
<h1>The true WHY toward a more desirable future</h1>
Beyond regulations and pressures from clients and policymakers, business and industry leaders do have a more personal interest to shift toward a new, more desirable future. By creating a new narrative of how businesses should be done, leaders are holding in their hands an immense power to shape the society of the future. Either that society of the future continues on this trajectory of the last 200 years, or it could become something else that is more exciting, more daring and yet humane.
No leaders would wake up in the morning and be excited over a goal of a two-fold annual sales increase, or the takeover of a new emerging market. As important as they are, numbers figures are certainly not the drive that inspires us to do what we are doing. The true why lies in the daring visions and ambitions behind: What are the biggest challenges of humanity that we would like to tackle? Why should it be done by us and not by someone else? What is the personal agenda that we would like to turn into a reality?. These visions are the hidden driving force, the reasons that we wake up everyday.
This applies to individuals, business leaders, but also to businesses. A business vision that focuses solely on the sales performance or other productivity-driven KPIs no longer speaks to clients, stakeholders and employees. It does not inspire, and it does not comply with the changes demanded by the market, either.
<h1>Draw me your desirable future</h1>
The question now is: what are the elements that would make a future “desirable”? What is the new narrative, the new story-telling that would inspire your future clients, stakeholders and employees? What would make your brand not only relevant but also desirable?
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/8b9126853d3e2a3822cc85599bf8937437df5164.png" alt="Figure 1: The 6 Value model for a desirable future, StimShift (2022)">
One important shift might happen when the intrinsic values of a product or a service prevail over the brand name. Procter &amp; Gamble alone, the largest advertiser worldwide in 2020 spent more than <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/990/global-advertising-market/">8 billion US dollars</a> (equivalent to the <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/gdp-by-country/">GDP</a> of the entire country of Moldova) to promote their fast-moving consumer goods. In total, the world spends <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/236943/global-advertising-spending/">622 billion US dollars to advertise and enhance brand names</a>. What if companies don’t advertise at all because the intrinsic value of their products/services is undeniable? For example, the electric automobile manufacturer Tesla, the iconic Sriracha hot sauces or Supreme, one of the world&#x27;s most expensive clothing brands <a href="https://www.peppercontent.io/blog/brands-that-succeeded-without-marketing">never spent a dime advertising their products</a>, but still enjoy a strong engagement with their consumers and sales revenue is always on the rise, from one year to another.
Another shift in values could happen in the approach of “client-first” vs “society or nature-first”. The obsession with “client-first” of the giant retailer Amazon might become not that desirable in a near future, as <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2021/12/minnesota-fulfillment-centers-injuries-turnover-wages-bezos">criticisms and accusations of terrible warehouse working conditions</a>, reckless care for drivers and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-delivery-drivers-reveal-claims-of-disturbing-work-conditions-2018-8?r=US&amp;IR=T">their safety,</a> <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale">forced labor in China,</a> etc. have gradually become an associated part of the brand. As <a href="https://www.helpscout.com/customer-loyalty/">64% of consumers</a> stated that they have a relationship with a brand because it shares their values, the narrative “client-first” despite all other human and environmental factors, before long, will be not enough to sustain a desirable brand. Meanwhile, Patagonia is on the other end of the spectrum. Their consistent narrative of “planet and people first” has become one of the best-in-class examples of demarketing, product circularity and recyclability and therefore, has created a community of extremely <a href="https://www.peterfisk.com/2019/05/loyalty-beyond-points-patagonia-finds-a-better-ways-to-engage-its-consumers-in-what-they-really-care-about/">loyal customers</a>.
Another example in the clothing industry with a shift from affordability - today’s value to durability - tomorrow’s value could be already observed in Generation Z or Millenials. Being born into the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice, they are emerging as the sustainability generations. The dominant narrative of affordability backed by fast-fashion brands is no longer desirable, with examples found in the events of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55139369">Arcadia going into administration,</a> Forever21 filing for <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/02/business/forever-21-bankruptcy-sale-brookfield/index.html">bankruptcy</a>, and H&amp;M <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54369802">making plans to shut 250 stores globally</a>. Meanwhile, the value brand resale market is growing now at a rate of 12% per annum, <a href="https://uk.fashionnetwork.com/news/Luxury-industry-comes-to-terms-with-gen-z-s-appetite-for-collaborations-resale,1091093.html">reaching €31 billion in 2021</a>, fueled mostly by millennials. As value brands offer products with much better durability than fast-fashion brands, this shifting mindset of the younger generations signals a radical change in the narrative that brands should adopt in order to stay relevant.
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
Businesses are asked to “reinvent” themselves all the time in order to stay ahead of their games. We, on the other hand, believe they should stop doing that before figuring out their desirable future first. It is no longer enough to stick to the narrative of productivity and rapidity that has been persisting since the 19th century.
Future clients, stakeholders and employees are demanding a different story-telling, one that is more adventurous and daring, but more respectful all the while. It is the only way for businesses to stay relevant in the upcoming years and step up to become the shapers of our future societies and economies.
Future Thought Leaders is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of rising Energy &amp; Sustainability writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

Frederic Arnoux

Frederic Arnoux

CEOs, do you have a vision?

Recent publications

Readers also like

Want to know more about illuminem Voices?