A major buzzword in leadership and management is vision, the ability to imagine different and better future conditions and ways to achieve them. A vision is a lofty, long-term goal. An effective leader is supposed to have a vision, whereas an ineffective leader either lacks a vision or has an unclear one. Being a visionary is far from an ordinary task, and recent research in neuroscience suggests that visionary leaders use their brain differently than others.

Many people use the terms vision and mission interchangeably, yet management theorists see them differently. A mission is a purpose, and reason for being, whereas a vision is a picture or image of the future we seek to create. Creating a vision is one of the major tasks of top management, yet quite often vision statements fail to inspire constituents.

Vision statements typically relate to the entire organization, yet a leader or manager responsible for an organizational unit can have a vision about what he or she is attempting to accomplish. Although many vision statements appear as if they could be formulated in fifteen minutes, managers invest considerable time in their preparation and often use many sources of data. After vision statements have been formulated, a wide range of employees must be involved in implementing the vision.