Mission and Vision Are Two

Mission and vision are two elements that are critical to a company's success. Too often, mission and vision statements are either non-existent, or they are so vague that they may as well be non-existent. Good mission and vision statements will typically have certain traits in common.

Mission Statements

Some of the key traits for mission statements are:

Present a broad perspective of the company's activities -- and be grand

Create a desired public image

Create expectations for the firm (BusinessPlans.org, no date).

Clarifies what business you are in (Entrepreneur.com, no date)

Uses concrete language (Heath, 2010)

The mission statement should be a broad perspective for a couple of reasons. The first is that the mission statement should not be overly limiting if the company is committed to things like growth and innovation. The second is that the company already knows what it does -- the mission statement needs to place that in a broader perspective.

The mission statement should convey the desired public image. While for the most part the general public does not care about the mission statement and will never read it, the mission statement will have an impact on the employees and managers at the firm. A mission statement that conveys the desired public image will rub off on this stakeholder group, and they will keep that image in mind in the conduct of their business.

Mission statements should be bold enough to create expectations. The employees and other stakeholders need to live up to something. A mission statement that merely states the company's current businesses does not inspire nor compel; ideally, a mission statement would. The mission statement should be clear about what business the company is in. A mission statement that is vague about the business is not sufficiently specific as to provide any real sense of direction for the employees.

Lastly, the mission statement should use concrete language. Mission statements that are vague have no impact. Only by using concrete language can a mission statement do what it is intended to do -- convey quickly and accurately the mission of a company. The more identifiable the mission, the easier it will be for employees to live up to that mission.

Vision Statements

Five key traits of vision statements are:

Defines the organization's values

Inspiring (MindTools.com, 2010)

Forward-thinking

Achievable

Specific (Ward, 2010)

The vision should define the organization's values. In this role, a vision statement defines the character and the culture of the organization. It helps the employees to understand the process by which they will achieve the company's mission.

The vision should be forward thinking -- it is a vision into the desire future of the company. The vision is something that the company is working towards. This vision should also be inspiring. If the vision does not inspire, then the stakeholders will not work towards it. A vision should not only provide something to which the company is working, it should also compel them to work towards it.

The vision should be specific, so that it is easily understood. It should also be achievable. A vision that is not achievable is likely to be rejected and therefore not inspire. A vision that is achievable and specific provides a guidepost in the future to which employees and other stakeholders will work.

These two lists both share things in common. One is the need for specificity. Mission and vision statements both need to be clear. They need to provide guidance for employees and other stakeholders. They both must clearly communicate what the company is about and where it is going.

The two lists differ is that the mission statement is more specific to the company's activities. A vision statement will contain elements of that, but is more applied strategy whereas the mission statement is simply focused on strategy. The mission statement creates expectations for the future, which is externally driven and the vision statement creates visions of the future, which are internally driven.

Conclusion

Mission and vision statements are difficult to write. Most firms struggle to succinctly espouse their sense of purpose, their core values or anything specific about where the company is going. Ultimately, this leads to ineffective statements -- the firm's actions do not flow from these statements. It is better that mission and vision statements are specific, boldly worded and provide a clear sense of direction to both internal and external stakeholders.