Mission, vision, and core value statements were once considered serious. And then fluff, because companies had them, but didn’t live them.
Thank goodness we’re never too old to learn!
I have come to realize that Mission Matters! So do vision and core values. Together they attract the people and partners you want, or chase them away. They provide a touchstone for how your organization intends to improve the lives of those it touches, or a source of derision. They give a consistent direction to strategy and priorities, or aren’t even considered.
No one creates company-specific definitions of those guideposts to sabotage market perception, much less spurn needed resources. The walking away happens when those phrases are discredited by company behavior. Or irrelevance.
Mission is not a tagline, nor a phrase copied from a different website. It is why your business exists. It attracts, or it repels. Or it promotes apathy.
Your mission does not have to be world-changing and should not be quixotic. But if few share it, endurance will be elusive for your company.
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