V I S I O N

Webster’s dictionary defines ‘vision’ as something seen in a dream. This is, of course, not the only definition but it suits my purpose and pen.
Is vision a dream to an entrepreneur? Has it ever been a dream for the big billionaires like Richard Branson, Carlos Slim, Bill Gates, Donald Trump or Saudi Prince Alwaleed? Driving the issue home, has it ever been a dream for the young and old Ethiopian private and public banks and insurance companies, or is it a dream for the upward-mobile young Ethiopian millionaires? Or should one dismiss it simply as a passing and impractical element or feeling; or as some folks allude to it, is it rather an achievable feature of strategic intent?
Entrepreneurs take vision as an entrance gate to their business. They make it a stepping stone to their strategic management. But, how is it concretely perceived? In so far as strategic intent is considered in a broader sense as a hierarchy intention ranging from a broad vision through mission and business definition down to specific objectives and goals, vision is then perceived by entrepreneurs as being right in the apex of the hierarchy of strategic intent.
When talking about ‘vision’ one indicates something of truth but rather of a matter which is in distance but not in the thin air; yet, it is different from imagination or dream. So, vision, obviously, is not a reverie or a dream. Vision is achievable. Thus, when one talks about embarking on the Ethiopian development through the millennium it seems to me, that it means exploiting the opportunities through the faculty of vision.
For every nouveau-entrepreneur or for a seasoned business person, vision pre-supposes a business plan. It is through the mirror of a business plan that one becomes convinced that vision is a distant reality that takes directly to a target through sometimes hedgy, thorny, twisted, up and down-ways. That is why it is said “the world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.”
This leads us to believe that one should not take ‘the millennium’ per se as a maze ground, an amusement park, or a passing interest, or even as a continuous occasion to dine, wine, and to make fast money from the usual life-style. The millennium, as I understand it holistically and generically is a meeting ground for women and men of vision, meaning and purpose, to exploit that opportunity with a new mind set for the betterment of the whole nation. It is to elevate Ethiopia’s present socio-economic and political level to a new height of excellence. It is then that vision marches, par excellence, with the times by crossing a broader mission to reach its objectives through a dynamic paradigm shift.
To understand the concept of vision concretely, I beg to quote with due respect to the vision of Dashen Bank, I know closely and to which I have given almost ten years of dedicated service before I retired honorably.
“In as much as Mount Dashen excels all
other mountains in Ethiopia, Dashen
Bank will continue to prove unparallel
in banking services.”
Was this a dream, an imagination, or a lazy man’s wish? Of course, it was neither of these . This vision was coined at the outset of its banking business endeavors and it proved its worth when the bank opened its doors to the public with commitment and utter involvement, to carry out its professional mission as envisaged in its vision pronouncement to a level of excellence, setting out its unique value system, and through empirically tested strategic plan.
This clear picture shows that ‘vision’ is a more onerous concept than any other word would match it. Then the afore-mentioned case of the Dashen Bank, as I know it, is a vivid ground to draw a lesson from, for every actual or potential entrepreneur, that anything visional is bound to succeed if pursued in the right manner and direction. I gather this is also true with other similar or different organizations guided by objective strategic plans.

(The writer is reachable at rotabase@ethionet.et, He is management consultant and trainer)