Mission, vision, and core value statements were once considered serious. And then fluff, because companies had them, but didn't live them.

Thank goodness we’re never too old to learn!

I have come to realize that Mission Matters! So do vision and core values. Together they

attract the people and partners you want, or chase them away. They provide a

touchstone for how your organization intends to improve the lives of those it

touches, or a source of derision. They give a consistent direction to strategy

and priorities, or aren’t even considered.  

No one creates company-specific definitions of those guideposts to sabotage market

perception, much less spurn needed resources. The walking away happens when

those phrases are discredited by company behavior. Or irrelevance.

Mission is not a tagline, nor a phrase copied from a different website. It is why your

business exists. It attracts, or it repels. Or it promotes apathy.

Your mission does not have to be world-changing

and should not be quixotic. But if few share it, endurance will be elusive for

your company.