More than words. Activating your mission and vision statements.
Let’s say your company just went through the rigorous process of crafting the perfect mission and vision statements (or a combo of both which is perfectly acceptable). Or it could be your values, purpose, manifesto, or any other term that describes why you exist, what drives you, what differentiates you, or what you aim to achieve in the long term.
Now what?
Those words are often then posted on walls, websites, and communicated to employees to help remind them why they are here and where the company is headed. Then the dust settles. Has anything changed over the next few months or a year? Sadly, at times nothing meaningful has changed.
Lack of change often comes down to these reasons:
CEO and the leadership team are not leading the way. Yes, everyone in the company is responsible, but you can’t expect a bottom-up approach to have change take hold. Leadership must empower the team and lead by example.
Lack of a robust activation plan. Communicating the statements is not a plan. Just like your brand, every element of the company from manufacturing to marketing, sales, operations, and service must look at their actions and make necessary changes to align with the statements.
Having a short-term view. Change does not come fast and if it means true change, it may not be easy. The actions must be consistent and continuously applied. Your statements and the behaviors expected from them are at the root of your company’s culture and that takes patience to evolve.
A tale of two companies
A classic example of where words didn’t mean anything was the resulting debacle from a company which had values of “Respect, Integrity, Communication and Excellence” and further stated their mission as, “We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves….We do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful treatment. Ruthlessness, callousness and arrogance don’t belong here.” That was Enron. Founded in 1985 and went into bankruptcy in 2001.
Alternatively, Patagonia which updated their core values in 2022 on the eve of their 50th anniversary is guided by the values of Quality, Integrity, Environmentalism, Justice, and Not being bound by convention. These are just the titles that are followed by more detailed explanations for each value (https://www.patagonia.com/core-values/)
When it’s time to update your values, mission, and vision statement, be prepared for the hard work that comes afterwards. You may end up doing more harm than good if they are simply words that makes everyone feel good in the short run. The power of these statements resides in their continual and steadfast application. Do what you say.