Are You Being True to Your Company’s Vision and Mission? Guest blog post written by Lori Bumgarner, M.Ed., Passion & Career Coach at HPMG partner company, paNASH
Think back to the time when you first started your business. Do you remember what that time was like. I’m sure it was exciting. The thought of working for yourself and eliminating the cap on your earning potential was undoubtedly attractive and energizing. I’m sure it was also scary. You probably wondered how you could afford such things as your own health insurance and other expenses. And you probably wondered to yourself, “Can I really do this?“
I remember after making the decision to leave my full-time job with benefits as a college career adviser to start my own career coaching business, I was so excited. I also remember waking up one morning with a pain in my chest and my left arm. At first I thought I was having a heart attack. Instead it was a panic attack. Not only was I excited about starting my own business. I was also scared!
Why You Need to Know Your “WHY”
Even though it was exciting and scary to start your own business, you had a real reason WHY you started it. What was your reason? Do you even remember, or has your “WHY” grown dim? Author Simon Sinek shares in his bestselling book Start With Why how important it is to know your “WHY,” especially as a business owner. He says people don’t buy WHAT you do. They buy WHY you do it. They’re more interested in your “WHY” before your “HOW” or your “WHAT.” I liken this concept to the popular quote, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Your “WHY” is Your Vision
Your “WHY” is what you care about. And most of all, it’s your vision, for both your company and yourself. You’ll hear a lot of business “gurus” out there saying your mission statement is your “WHY” and vice versa. This is incorrect. Your “WHY” is all about your vision, and therefore is your vision statement. Whereas, your mission statement is your “HOW”. It’s how you carry out your “WHY” and your vision. My own vision statement for both my career coaching business and my personal life is:
“I believe everyone can find the courage to discover and pursue their passions despite the obstacles they may face. I want to see people actively pursue their passions with flair (‘paNASH’) and confidence, along with responsibility to their purpose in life.”
How did I come up with this vision statement? I went through the same exercises I provided you in my previous posts, “How to Gain Success Via Your Authentic Personal Brand” and “How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome With Your Personal Brand.” By spending quiet time completing those exercises, I was able to clarify and solidify my “WHY,” giving me a compass for my purpose and the purpose of my business.
You can do the same by also completing those exercises and by considering your desired future and personal definition of success.
Your “HOW” is Your Mission
So if my vision statement (aka my “WHY”) is my compass, then my mission statement is my map. As stated above, it is the “HOW” to my “WHY”. It’s the process I have in place to deliver my service and accomplish my vision. I have both a personal mission statement and a mission statement for my business. But they are very closely linked to each other. My business mission statement (how I carry out the vision of my business) is:
“To serve, educate, and encourage others by assisting them with the discovery and pursuit of their passions in a way that honors their purpose and their own vision for success, while amplifying who they are personally and advancing them professionally.”
My personal mission statement (how I carry out my personal goals) is:
“To boldly pursue my passions and purpose, and to teach, encourage, and inspire others to do the same, resulting in lives overflowing with joy, peace, and fulfillment.”
This personal mission statement is broad enough for me to carry it out in both my work and in other areas of my life How did I come up with my mission statements? I used the information I gathered on my audience from the exercises I outlined in my post, “Do You Know How to Speak Your Customer’s Language?” You can do the same to help you come up with your own mission statement.
Simply consider the info you gathered on your own audience and customer base, such as:
- Who they are (their basic demographics).
- What problem or challenge they face.
- How your product or service is able to solve their problem.
- What your #1 strength or benefit you have to offer them is.
- And what the additional benefits or promises (aka deeper core benefits) you have to offer are.
Are You Using Your “WHY” and “HOW” to Make Good Decisions?
If you’ve been in business for some time, you probably already have a vision and mission statement for your company. But my question to you is, how are you using your statements and again are you being true to your company’s Vision and mission? Are you making good decisions about your business by using your statements as your compass and map? In other words, are you filtering your business decisions through your statements and only making choices that support your vision and mission while discarding those that don’t?
Or are your statements just added to your web site and brochures with no real thought or meaning to the day-to-day life of your business? Vision and mission statements aren’t something you come up with just to post on your web site for your customers to see. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Your statements are more for you than they are for your customers. They help you make the right business decisions by choosing opportunities that support your vision and your mission.
As a result, the choices you make using those statements in your decision-making process are what benefit your customers. This is what your true and authentic brand is, not the statements themselves.
Is it Time to Revisit Your Company’s “WHY” and “HOW”?
Even if you already have a vision and mission statement for your business, based on the above info and the exercises you’ve done from my previous posts, does it make sense for you to reconsider those statements and maybe rewrite them?
Do your current statements poorly reflect your original reason for starting your business?
Is it good timing to revisit this because you’re seeing either a need for some rebranding of your business or a need to authenticate your current brand and your original “WHY”?
So Are You Being True to Your Company’s Vision and Mission? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, we’re here to help! I’m here to provide HPMG clients like you assistance with the development of your personal and professional brand. This includes helping you write a vision statement, mission statement, and unique selling proposition that truly reflects your “WHY”. Once your message is solidified, HPMG is able to provide a visual appeal to your brand that accurately illustrates your “WHY” in your online presence and your print collateral.
To get started, Contact Us or call us at (641) – 664 – 1216.
Related Posts:
- How to Gain Success Via Your Authentic Personal Brand
- How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome With Your Personal Brand
- Do You Know How to Speak Your Customers’ Language?
Are You Being True to Your Company’s Vision and Mission? was written by Lori Bumgarner is the owner of paNASH, a passion and career coaching service that helps people get unstuck to pursue their passions and find work they love.