Vision statements are meant to inspire. Visionary leaders, however, need to be more than that. Not all visionaries are effective leaders. You have likely heard that even the best strategies fail in execution. There’s so much truth in that. The details of a business plan matter, and so does who is leading and how they lead the implementation of their vision. This includes how everyone around them responds to the vision, and that might come down to communication and leadership style.
That’s where your mission comes in. These two things — visions and missions — often get confused. Let me be clear: they are not the same. Think of your mission statement as an articulation of your company’s focus. Everyone in your organization can develop specific objectives that line up to that, if it is clear. The popular book, Traction, works this way. Its companion website offers some free, useful tools to get you started and thinking more deeply on this. Are you already applying this in your organization? Share how it has worked for you.
Often, company mission statements reflect the vision, but I find many applications confusing. I suggest developing a mission statement that achieves some aspect of your vision — in say, the next 5 or 10 years. Unlike your vision, the mission can evolve over time, just as your business does. Go one step further, and support your mission with business objectives that are SMART — specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and time-bound. SMART goals should require risk-taking — be ambitious with them. When you quantify the mission, it allows you to track progress and create shared accountability across the organization.
The objectives supporting your mission are not necessarily something you make public, unless it makes sense to do so. You will likely share it with funders — especially if you are a nonprofit or startup entity. But it is definitely something you use to motivate others. I would add that the mission statement, and those objectives, should use language that creates a feeling of shared responsibility. Maya Angelou famously said:
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos, believed this. The company vision continues to be about delivering happiness. That’s what motivated him to focus his mission on building the company culture on customer service, with customer satisfaction as the #1 metric of success. Hsieh did this in a new way. He empowered all of his employees by creating a new kind of organizational structure, known as a holacracy, and creating principles of self-management that allow for shared accountability. As a customer service-oriented company, Zappo employees make decisions autonomously that will improve the customer experience. That means it does not need to go through some hierarchical approval process. You can read on about the history of this on the Zappo’s website.
A strong vision should not only be inspiring, it should be empowering. That’s why it requires a clear mission statement. Missions should motivate everyone to work towards the vision in a way that moves them forward in their discrete contributions.
More companies are infusing purpose as part of their vision. This might be a good time for you to revisit your organization’s vision and reassess how your current mission connects to your community, or the planet, in a meaningful way. Let me know if you’re thinking about this. I know a growing number of founders asking themselves how their business might contribute to racial equity and environmental justice. This week’s blog series begins to explore this as an opportunity to reimagine how we use business to live better.
Meanwhile, you might be ready to evaluate your own visionary leadership style, and so you might find this resource helpful to refocus your company’s vision on a mission.
Onward, my People.