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Defining Your Mission, Vision and Values

    Introduction to Defining your Mission, Vision and Values

    Whether you are starting a new company or struggling to determine your path for your existing venture, it is time to create your company’s mission, vision and values. These documents are guideposts for your company to evaluate future opportunities and ensure that you are on the correct course to achieving your desired success. A mission statement explains what the company wants to achieve and who they want to serve. A vision statement is a conceptual description of what the company wants to accomplish in the future as it relates to the community or the world. Thus, a mission statement is how the company plans to achieve it’s vision statement. Your values are how you will be accountable to all of the stakeholders of your organization and will drive the culture of your company. All of this combined should inspire your teammates and your community and attract people to join your mission.

    Definitions

    • Mission Statement– The mission statement is a present tense statement that defines the purpose and goals of your organization. Mission statements tend to be short, clear and powerful and avoid generalizations. Try to avoid phrase like “best in the world” or “disruptive technology”. Your mission statement should be unique to your company. The mission statement is not necessarily what you do, it is the results of what you do. For example, Microsoft’s original mission statement was “A computer on every desk and in every home.” It says nothing about them providing an operating system. It is the result of their mission. Mentioning your product is acceptable as long as it also mentions your preferred outcome.
    • Vision– In contrast, the vision statement is a forward looking statement defining the goals and aspirations for your company. It should be inspirational and motivational and steer the organization on future strategies and targets. The vision is usually timeless so it can act as a guidepost for the entirety of the company fostering a sense of unity and commitment toward common goals. Your vision should also be both ambitious yet realistic. Your vision statement should propel your organization and inspire all stakeholders to dream big aligning efforts towards a collective vision. Again, your vision statement should be specific to your company.
    • Values– The values of your organization serve as the moral compass establishing the fundamental principles that defines its culture and decision-making processes. It informs all stakeholders of what is important to the company and how people should be treated both internally and externally. It instructs teammates on what behaviors the company values and how the company will conduct business. Values provide a framework for ethical decision making resulting in building a strong reputation with all of its shareholders. It is also utilized in developing a positive external brand for the company.

    Which Order Should They be Created

    Depending on who you ask, you will get different answers on which order you should construct your mission, vision and values so there is no wrong answer for your company. My preference is to work backwards. I recommend starting with the vision. What are the 10-25 year aspirations of the business? How will you know when the company has created their dent in the universe? After the vision statement, I recommend completing your values list. What ethics and standards do you want the company to be known? How do you want people to be treated in your organization. The top one or two can also be incorporated in your mission statement if you desire. They could be part of your unique selling proposition (USP). Finally, I would create the mission statement. What difference will your product/service make and to whom?

    8 Steps to Creating a Mission, Vision, and Values Statement

    1. Gather a Group– The goal is to enlist people across the organization (for an existing company) that includes the leadership team as well as teammates from all levels. The more the merrier to a point as it offers a diverse perspective. If you are a solo founder, you can do this on your own or invite a few friends and advisors to help you dream. The ideal size is 3-5 people but more works as well.
    2. Isolate the Group– Creating your mission, vision and values will require focus so it should be held somewhere that you can avoid distractions and interruptions. Hosting it in a retreat setting, such as a conference room of a hotel, the back room of a restaurant or even in someone’s home will allow you to stay on task and move the process forward.
    3. Identify a Facilitator– It will be easy to get off track with so many ideas and thoughts being discussed. It is important to stay focused to be able to deliver your mission, vision and values in a timely fashion. Identify someone in the group who can control the room yet encourage everyone to participate. Someone who will drive the process and keep the process moving forward.
    4. Brainstorm– Begin filling a whiteboard with every idea you can dream of about what the company wants to accomplish and where it wants to go. What will it look like in 5, 10 or 20 years? What newspaper headlines will it capture? Who will the company inspire to join the mission? What does success look like? The brainstorming session should last no more than 20-30 minutes. Tip: Might be a good idea to break into smaller groups if you have more than 6-8 people so you don’t fall into group think and so everyone has a chance to voice their ideas.
    5. Distill your Ideas– Review the list that was created and start to coalesce around a group of ideas that most people can agree upon. There will most likely not be a consensus but you can work out what makes it past the cutting room floor. This should take no more than 30 minutes.
    6. Formulate Statement– Using the distilled list, start to create a working vision statement. You may even create multiple working statements to test against each other.
    7. Finalize Statement– Work together to finalize your vision statement ensuring that it captures the essence of the company and inspires your teammates.
    8. Repeat– Repeat steps 4-7 for the mission statement and the values statement.
      a. For your mission statement, develop your Unique Selling Proposition (USP); why do customers choose to buy from you as opposed to your competitors? How will you know when you have reached success in your organization? What attributes or key performance indicators (KPIs) can you use to determine your desired goals.
      b. For the values statement, it might be easier to start with a large list of possible values for people to choose as it may be hard to randomly think of a list. It will also inspire them to think of other ideas. Values list should be roughly 3-5 items and can be single words or short phrases.

    Implementing Mission, Vision, and Values

    Now that you have you have created your mission, vision and values, it is time to put them into effect. Continuously share them with teammates. Post them on the office walls. Give gifts to people who can cite them on the spot. Incorporate it into your decision-making process. It does not stop internally. For external stakeholders, share it on social media. Reference it in marketing. Create campaigns around it. Put it on the back of your business cards. You can’t reference it enough as it should permeate through your entire culture.

    Conclusion

    Your mission, vision and values should be working statements that drive your business. They should not be created and then forgotten about or never referenced. They should be used as a measuring stick for everything you do in the future. It should determine how you treat your employees and conduct business with the outside world. They should be the foundation for your organization’s strategic plan. One last thing. Don’t be afraid to change either your mission, vision or values. Whether or not you have reached your initial goals and aspirations, it is perfectly acceptable to pivot your company as the world changes, so too may your dreams. Just make sure that you embrace it through all aspects of your business

    Example Mission Statements

    • Nike- To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
    • Tesla- To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
    • Patagonia- Build the best product, Cause no unnecessary harm, Use business to protect nature, Not bound by convention.
    • IKEA: To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.
    • Microsoft (at its founding) — A computer on every desk and in every home.

    Example Vision Statements

    • SouthwestAirlines: To be the world’s most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.
    • LinkedIn: Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.
    • Amazon: Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
    • Microsoft: To help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.
    • Patagonia: We’re in business to save our home planet.

    Example Values

    • Be transparent
    • Integrity
    • Deliver Wow
    • Stronger Together
    • Embrace Change