Have you ever watched a movie with no clear plotline and found yourself checking your watch? Or what about reaching the end of a movie and realizing you weren’t all that invested in how things turned out? We go to movies with expectations to connect and care about what’s happening, so when that doesn’t happen, we are dissatisfied.

Similarly, running an organization without a clear understanding of Why you exist and an aspirational vision for what you are seeking to achieve, can leave your leaders and your teams floundering. Or worse…exiting.

For this reason, defining a mission and vision for your organization is not just a formality, it’s fundamental. Think Braveheart. Have you cascaded a vision that inspires people to go into battle with you? (Or at least into the office?)

If you are seeking to align a team, establish or reinvigorate an organizational identity, or refocus on your Why to shift people out of churn and ambivalence, then kicking off an exercise to define or refresh your mission and vision statement is an excellent place to start.

Mission and vision statements can be written at many levels – company, organization, department, team, etc… They are essential to guide your group toward its long-term goals and to define its purpose and identity.

They serve as a compass for decision-making and communicate the organization’s aims and aspirational goals to inspire employees and stakeholders. Often when an organization or team is struggling, realigning around these things is a powerful exercise that shifts people forward.

As a strategic planning partner, C-Shift Consulting has helped many organizations and teams define their Mission and Vision, and then turn that exercise into a rally cry for their people. Done well, it also becomes what your customers and stakeholders reliably expect from you.

If you have work to do on your mission and vision, we’ve compiled some general guidelines to focus and energize around these important concepts:

Mission statement: Define your purpose.

A mission statement answers the questions: “What is our reason for being?” and “Why do we do what we do?” It defines your core purpose, the value, products, or services you provide, and the audience you serve.

Good mission statements are concise, clear, and compelling, capturing the essence of your group’s identity in a sentence or two. When crafting your mission statement, consider the following:

• What are the primary goals of our team or organization?
• What value do we bring and for whom?

Consider C-Shift Consulting’s Mission Statement:

We create value by inspiring people and empowering companies to be architects of their future.

Vision statement: Define your long-term goals.

A vision statement outlines your organization’s long-term aspirations and defines what success looks like. It answers the questions: “Where do we want to be in the future?” and “How are we different?”

Good vision statements are ambitious, inspiring, and forward-looking, painting a picture of the organization’s ideal future or unique way of accomplishing its mission. When crafting your vision statement, consider the following:

• What is your ultimate goal?
• How do you see your company evolving over time?
• What impact do you want to make around you?

A well-crafted vision statement aligns your team around a common goal, inspires stakeholders, and provides a roadmap for long-term success.

This is C-Shift Consulting’s Vision Statement:

We are a global force of radical collaboration, creativity, and simplicity working to create high-value future outcomes with present people.

Get started

Kicking off an exercise to define or refresh your mission and vision statement isn’t a very complicated process, but it does require some thoughtful planning and reflection. Start by asking yourself a few questions:

• Are we willing to be self-reflective and open-minded?
• Are we willing to invest the time required to do this exercise well?
• Who can we involve in this process?

• Do we have a good facilitator who can keep us focused and foster engagement without over-injecting their own views into the outcome? (Having the top leader lead the exercise will not result in others speaking up.)
• How will we communicate the outcomes of our work?
• How can we get the most value out of what a Mission and Vision is intended to be?

Often this work is coupled with other steps in an organization’s strategic planning process: strategy development, leadership alignment, strategy-to-action framing, operating model assessments, and more. If it seems like a big task, C-Shift Consulting is here to help you define a creative and simple customized plan. Be the architect of your future by clicking here to learn more about our Strategy and Value Realization service offerings.

To quote Simon Sinek, “If you can clearly articulate the dream or the goal, start.”

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