In my last post, I shared a process for creating a vision for your organization. What type of world do you want to create? If everything goes right, the vision will be the final result of all your efforts. I referred to this as the mountain you want to climb.
Now that you are clear on your mountain peak, it’s time to decide which path to take. Each mountain might have several ways to reach the top.
If your vision (mountain peak) is to give every girl in the world access to free education, the mission (path) is how you will do it. Will you achieve that vision by building schools, giving away books, developing apps for phones, or advocating for changes in local laws?
You see, each one of those missions is a different path up the same mountain to reach the peak.
So what path are you going to take?
Your mission statement should closely relate to what you will do as a team or organization.
- Amazon: “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
- Starbucks: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”
- Apple: “To bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.”
- Disney: “To entertain, inform, and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, magical experiences, and beloved characters.”
Your mission and vision statements should seamlessly align with each other.
- “We want to see a world where…(vision). We will achieve this by (mission).”
- “Through creating…(mission), we will make…(vision).”
- “By building…(mission), in 10 years we will…(vision).”
Now it’s time for you to create your mission statement. Use one of the examples above or come up with your own.
The end result should be one to two sentences that encompass both the vision and mission of the company.
Once you’re done, send your vision statement to [email protected], and we’ll review it for you!
