Platitudes or imperatives, mission vision and strategy.
In this chapter, we'll consider that many companies have a mission and vision statement. However, the degree to which this is communicated, and the resultant engagement in the organization can be very different from these typically bold statements. Also that the CEO or managing director is responsible for regularly communicating the company mission and vision.
And finally, that the company mission, vision and strategy are business imperatives when they are current, well understood, and foster engagement. A few weeks ago, I spent a day interviewing the members of the leadership team of a fast growing services business in Southeast Asia. Talking with young, intelligent, energized and switched on leaders is always great. Within a few minutes, it is easy to ascertain which leaders understand the company mission, vision and strategy.
More importantly, one can gauge the level of engagement and alignment for each leader. In this particular instance, the responses varied from lack of engagement to operating with own agenda to fully engaged, I concluded there was a lack of alignment, which was one of the reasons for low company performance. If you want key stakeholders engaged and walking the talk on strategy and strategic priorities, then the best place to start is with the foundation pieces of mission and vision, platitudes or imperatives.
Valuable Takeaways:
Why does our company exist?
What are the compelling reasons for employees to be engaged with the company?
If the mission health check result is positive, but there is still a lack of engagement, then the issue may be one of communication and education.
Assuming your company is filled with smart people, you will need to sell the mission. Smart people want to know the context of their function in the organization.
There are many missions such as guides and words of wisdom, which will help you in crafting a new mission or polishing the existing. One popularly espoused point I disagree on is the idea that a mission should be looking a long time into the future.