In yesterday’s blog I wrote about the difference between mission and vision and the importance of them both. This is important as individuals and for every organization. If you are a leader of an organization and you can’t clearly speak your mission and vision, odds are both you and the organization are suffering. At the very least, you might be dramatically underperforming. If you are not clear about this in your personal life, it is affecting every area of your life more than you realize. The lack of understanding and clarity is keeping you from living the “rich and satisfying” life Jesus came to give you (John 10:10). In today’s blog I want to give you a process for getting clarity.
1. Be Honest (Quit Kidding Yourself)
It’s pretty simple, you can either speak and communicate your mission and vision clearly or you can’t. Here’s what I’ve learned over the years leading people in this: most people try to bluff their way through this when asked. But you know if you’re really know it or not. So be honest with yourself about it. You have so much potential to unleash when you are clear. If you are a leader, either be honest about your lack of clarity and do something about it or do your organization a favor and move on.
2. Discover Resources
We are blessed to live in a day and time when resources are readily available to us in developing mission and vision. There are many great books on both. For mission I recommend Living the Life You Were Meant to Live
3. Get Personal Help
It is great to get coaching through books and resources, but the greatest investment you can make in your future is getting some personal coaching. People often tell me they can’t afford to invest in personal coaching. I’m often told by Board members of churches and other organizations that coaching for their staff and leadership is simply not in the budget. That mentality is short sighted and often cost dearly. It’s usually spoken when needed the most, as the organization suffers through the beginning stages of a slow painful death or an individual begins to sink into indifference and depression because of lack of clarity. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Make it a priority, change the budget, and get some personal help. You have too much at stake: your potential and your organization’s potential. Get clear on your mission and vision.
4. Continue Clarifying
Once you are clear about mission and vision you must continue to tweak and clarify. Sadly, many go through the pain effort of getting clarity only to do nothing with it. Don’t be that person, don’t be that organization. You should have a major retreat once a year to go over your mission and vision. Take a day, get away from things. Write your thoughts and consider if you are on track or not. What do you need to change? Once a quarter, spend a half of a day doing the same thing. Every week set aside an hour to do this as well. This is the greatest thing you can do to make sure you stay on course and live out your potential and the potential of your organization. For me, I like to set aside time every Wednesday to do this. I notice and my staff notices when I begin to slip on this. Make it a priority.
Next Step:
Need help getting clarity about your mission and vision? Read my book Life Palette