Vision and Mission Statement Development

Vision and Mission Statement

Development of a Vision and Mission Statement for Principles of Leadership Course

For a vision statement to be successful, it must inspire members of a group, organization or team to find the intersection of their passions for their work and the needs of the organization, and then work very hard to deliver on the potential for making a contribution. Showing associates, employees, managers and leaders how their passions and interests for their role in an organization can make significant contributions is one of the indicators of a successful vision statement. In this respect a vision statement is a living document or philosophy (Kouzes & Posner, 2003, pp. 103-120). Ultimately a vision provides a very vivid glimpse as to the future of a group, team or organization and provides guidance to contributors on how to achieve the envisioned level of performance.

While vision statements define the future, mission statements define organizations' main purposes, philosophy, and major contributions. As a result, mission statements focus on what makes the organization relevant by concentrating on what needs are fulfilled by its activities, what its core strengths or competencies are, what the organization, collectively, stands for. Ultimately the best mission statements succinctly define what makes an organization unique and relevant, gaining support in the process (Kouzes, Posner, 2003, pp. 135-155).

The vision and mission statements for the Principles of Leadership class are as follows: