"Torsten, what are you doing in Germany?" an American investor in the States asked me, referring to the weak digitalization, the jumble of bureaucracy and the chaos in the energy sector. And he was quite concerned about the future viability of German politics and the economy.
"We're putting the ladder up against the wrong wall!" I replied and added, when he looked at me questioningly, "We here in Germany lack the same thing in politics and society that many companies and people lack: a vision."
Driven by the wind without a vision
The Roman philosopher Seneca put it in a nutshell:
"If you don't know the direction, no wind is favorable."
What about you and your company, do you sometimes lack orientation? Or a personal compass that helps you to decide in which direction you want to move? Then you will experience moments like this time and again: you stretch yourself, you commit yourself, you climb a ladder, look over the wall and realize: you have placed the ladder against the wrong wall, you have committed yourself to the wrong goals. Or - as I often observe in company management - you have concentrated on the day-to-day business and have gone all out without a real goal, without a vision.
And then things like what is happening politically in Germany or what companies are painfully experiencing happen: No vision - no future. Those without a vision are driven by the wind of events, by the roar of the market, and quickly end up on a cliff or stranded in insignificance.
Be really successful with the right vision
When Apple, under the leadership of Steve Jobs, set out to conquer the market - and launched one of the innovations that changed the world with the iPhone. The company had formulated a vision statement for itself that, in my view, was powerful and full of energy. It brought the people in the company and the customers together in a promise of beneficial innovation:
"To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind." - was the core sentence of the vision that Steve Jobs formulated in 2007. "To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind."
A good vision that moves you, that drives your company forward, needs something emotional. It is connected to a basic need, for example the basic need to leave something in the world that is meaningful, that advances humanity. Even if it is perhaps only on a small personal scale, if you inspire people, enable your children to grow successfully ...
Apple under Steve Jobs is a good example of how you can change the world with the right vision. And we can all do that, on a small or large scale.
My dream was and is to democratize success, to give people access to success who otherwise have difficulties, who reach a limit that they cannot cross or who may not even know what they are actually made of. That's how I did it in my company, that's how I founded new companies with employees that are now successful and that's how I want to continue. It's not important whether I manage to change the whole world. Realistically, I certainly won't succeed, but I'm simply following my path, step by step.
Your vision, your path
A good vision in the entrepreneurial and political sphere is aimed at benefiting people and society. It is therefore always focused on the future, ideally sensing and anticipating trends and changes before they really take effect.
When it happens to some that your company becomes an end in itself. If your company is primarily concerned with itself - and not with the benefit of people and society - then the ladders are up against the wrong wall and all the signs are red. And I'm sure that's exactly what happened to a market leader like Nokia, for example, which was blown off the market by Apple. The company's vision was too weak and it backed the wrong horse. It lacked orientation towards a really big, meaningful, cohesive goal that would attract people and success, and therefore also lacked clarity about the path.
What is your vision? What moves you? What drives you? What does success mean to you? What is it that you can use to move and inspire other people?