“Our vision is to increase shareholder value.” – Does that hold true for your organisation? I still come across companies that mistake numeric targets for a vision. Market share. Revenue growth. Geographic expansion.
A vision is not a percentage point, a revenue target, or a promise to “maximise shareholder value.” No employee jumps out of bed excited to make someone else rich.
Numbers are important measures of success, but they are not, and never will be, a compelling vision. Too many organisations confuse financial ambition with direction. They mistake KPIs for clarity. But employees don’t commit to numbers – they commit to meaning. They commit to a future they can believe in, contribute to, and feel proud of shaping.
And in the GCC, where nations are preparing for a post-fossil future and transforming at unprecedented speed, the gap between national ambition and corporate vision is becoming increasingly visible. Countries across the region are signalling bold futures. Organisations must do the same if they want people to follow them with energy rather than obligation.
Consider two companies in the same industry: one rallies its people around a revenue target; the other rallies its people around the future it will create for customers, society, or the planet. Guess which one people want to work for? Yes, the one that is a company for good.
At its core, a vision answers one question: what will the world look like for our stakeholders if we are wildly successful? It offers a vivid picture of the future. A meaningful vision shows impact, not just output. When people can see themselves in that future, they act as co-creators. Pride rises, engagement deepens, and decisions become far more aligned.
A strong vision is also outward-looking. Clients want to feel good about the companies they choose. They want to trust the values and the positive impact behind the products and services they buy. A compelling vision strengthens this trust, which is one of the most valuable currencies any organisation can earn.
Executives often ask: “But what about financial performance?” – especially because shareholders and owners evaluate them on those numbers. Yet numbers, on their own, fail to inspire. “Become the number one provider in our industry” tells employees nothing about why their work matters. “Increase revenue by 20%” may satisfy investors, but it does not ignite intrinsic motivation. Gallup data shows that employees with a strong sense of purpose are about 5.6 times as likely to be engaged as those with low purpose. And engagement is not a soft metric – it is one of the strongest predictors of productivity, retention, and financial performance. Financial outcomes follow motivation, not the reverse.
A strong vision does not replace strategy – it anchors it. Strategy becomes the roadmap. Culture becomes the behaviour. Leadership becomes the modelling of the values required to get there. When vision, strategy, culture, and leadership align, organisations operate with clarity and coherence. People understand not only what they do, but why it matters. And when the organisation drifts, the vision pulls it back like a true North Star.
This is especially true in the GCC, where governments are setting global benchmarks for innovation, economic diversification, sustainability, and future readiness. These national agendas are bold, human-centred, and clearly articulated. Many corporate visions, by contrast, still read like internal dashboards.
Leaders in the region now have a responsibility to close this gap. A human-centred, purpose-driven vision is not a soft leadership ideal. It is the foundation for sustainable growth, innovation, and long-term organisational resilience – exactly the outcomes ESG-driven organisations strive for. It creates workplaces where people feel valued, clients feel connected, and society feels the benefit.
The organisations that will shape the next decade in the GCC are those with visions that inspire people, unite teams, deepen trust, and contribute to the region’s post-fossil, future-ready trajectory.
Because when people believe in the future you are building, they will help you build it – and the numbers will follow.
By: Mette Johansson, MBA, PCC, CSP, GSF
Executive Offsite Strategist, aligning Vision – Strategy – Culture – Leadership behaviour