There are two parts that you need to cover when writing a Mission Statement. Your Why and your What. In a previous article, I spoke extensively about your why and how you should define it.
Remember for Velani Consulting, our why is that…
We Want To Change The World.Faisal Velani, CEO Velani Consulting
Today I want to cover the second part of defining a mission statement. That is your What. What market do you serve or What value do you provide?
Why Should You Define A Mission Statement?
There is an epidemic today of companies getting off track. Businesses get distracted by opportunities that really are threats. Others falsely assume that just because they succeeded in one business they can succeed in any.
Your job as the leadership team is to establish your focus and make sure nothing distracts you. Things like
– A competitor
– A new idea
– A new product
– Poor advice that looks like good advice at the time
In his series “Lead the Field” Earl Nightingale discusses the story of Acres of Diamonds.
There was once a man named Ali who owned a large farm. He was very content with his life when one day a priest told him about diamonds and how even one the size of your thumb was worth enough to purchase the entire country.
As the story goes, Ali sold his farm and set out to find these diamonds. After years of searching all over Palestine and Europe he didn’t find any diamonds and was penny less. Finally Ali gave up and drowned himself.
Soon afterward the man who purchased Ali’s farm was visited by the same priest. He noticed a small diamond on the fireplace and asked where he found this. He replied, “It was in the brook that runs through the farm. It’s filled with them.” Ali went searching the world while he already had his own “Acres of Diamonds”.
Most businesses are sitting on their own Acres of Diamonds. The best way to lose them is to get bored, lose focus, become over ambitious, or start thinking that the grass is greener on the other side.
Find your focus stick to it and devote your time and resources to excelling at it. When business owners get bored there is always the potential for them to get distracted by the shiny stuff and sabotage what they’ve built.
How To Define Your Market?
To make people happyDisney
To bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services Apple
Serve consumers through online and physical stores and focus on selection, price, and convenienceAmazon
This practice seems very simple but where organizations really fail is that they don’t dig deep enough. Your What is the reason why your clients come to you over your competition. You should be able to define it through an elevator pitch
For Velani Consulting…
We help organizations create a culture of Growth, Innovation, and Excellence Faisal Velani, CEO Velani Consulting
This is What we do.
Bringing It All Together
Combining your Why and What should complete your organization’s mission statement. Once these two are clear, you will need to stay true to it. If a new business opportunity doesn’t fit, don’t do it. Let it be your filtering mechanism for all future decisions.
Here at Velani Consulting…
We want to make the world a better place by helping organizations create a culture of Growth, Innovation, and ExcellenceFaisal Velani, CEO Velani Consulting
Our mission statement is simple, it ignites passion, and clearly articulates why we are in business and what value do we provide. It helps everyone in the organization and outside of it know what our company stands for and what our purpose is. Define your mission statement and start your path towards a #CultureOfGIE.