“Vision without action is merely a dream.  Action without vision just passes the time.  Vision with action can change the world.”  — Joel Barker

Action differentiates a dream from a vision.  Stephen Case, co-founder of AOL, understood this saying, “A vision without the ability to execute it is a hallucination.”  Jack Welch writes, “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” 

For those who struggle with “the vision thing”, take heart.  Speaking of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton admitted, “I had no vision of what I would start.”  While Sam may not have foreseen the fullness of what he would create, you can be sure he had just enough vision and excelled in execution – and he changed the world.

The Bottom Line: Leaders understand that vision must be accompanied by execution and invent the future by emphasizing both.