Answer: Vision is about ‘one day we will be this” whereas culture is ‘everyday we do this.” Culture supports realizing your vision and yet without a vision of where you want to be, a great organizational culture is like is like a high performing vehicle with no gas or road map. You might like where you sit but you aren’t going anywhere. Great organizations still need visionary leaders to set the course.And there is another element that comes into play here and that is values. When you have one set of values that aligns with your vision—like excellence, value, follow through and such but the values demonstrated by your culture don’t align with your vision, you are going to get stuck on the road to your vision. This is why it is imperative to continually examine your culture to work to make what you do everyday align with where you want to eventually be. If your vision is to be fit and healthy but your culture is such that you eat fast food daily and haven’t seen the gym since you signed up your vision is just a good idea that won’t happen. So you can see that your vision as a leader and the organizational culture you create are interdependent and you can’t really effectively lead without both.
