Mission, vision, values — do you know what they mean?

Is your team in full alignment with your firm’s mission, vision and core values? Or is it causing more confusion than clarity because these words mean different things to different people? Read about it in my new article in Advisor Perspectives.

Thoughtful strategic planning pays huge dividends for any organization that aspires to be healthy and enjoy sustainable growth. Clarity is essential. Everyone on your leadership team should be in alignment with your strategic direction. It’s hard enough to run a business even with everyone “on the same page.” It’s monumentally difficult and chaotic when words like “mission,” “vision” and “values” mean different things to different people.

Strategic planning pertains to being clear about who you are, what you do, who your customer is, where you are going, how you will get there, and when you will get there. With clarity around these questions, you give your firm a real chance at being highly disciplined and productive with every activity, task and initiative fully aligned with your strategic direction. A strategically disciplined advisory firm is like a well-written story with a tight plot line with no random characters or events.

Not surprisingly, there are a lot of resources available on strategic planning — books, articles and lectures — that are worth your time and effort. But sometimes proliferation begets confusion. Different words and labels get thrown around by executives and managers (and often by consultants, academics and writers) without regard to what they mean. This is certainly the case among owners and leaders of advisory firms.

Read more in Advisor Perspectives.

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