Vision Statement

This is follow up to the blog post Key Questions For Leaders posted on August 12.

I bought this leadership book and am reading it. I am surprised to say that there are many good ideas in there that could be applied at Rio Hondo.
The author stresses the importance of having a clear vision for an organization created by the stakeholders. The author is against boiler plate vision statements written by consultants. He recommends getting the stakeholders together every few years and asking them the following questions:

• Why do you work at this organization? You could work elsewhere: why do you work here? What do you love about this organization?
• What would you like to tell your grandchildren about why you worked at this place for thirty years of your life? ... To what great cause/accomplishment has this organization contributed?
• What would you like this organization to look like in ten years? What would you hope to say that it accomplished?
• What are the distinctive competencies of this organization? What would the world lose, or forgo, if it didn't exist?

By being involved in the creation of  the vision statement, they will take ownership of the vision statement and will work hard toward accomplishing the tasks necessary to realize this vision.
Our current vision statements were written and edited by a small group consisting of 3 to 6 dedicated people. We should start with a Blank Sheet of paper with Trustees, Administration, Classified, Faculty, and students all together in one room to come up with a common vision.