Purpose, Mission, and Vision Statements (2024)

FAQs

What is the purpose of the mission and vision statement? ›

Mission and vision statements are concise, inspiring statements that clearly communicate the direction and values of an organization. These statements can powerfully explain your intentions, and they can motivate your team or organization to realize an inspiring vision of the future.

Your mission statement should clearly express what your brand does, how it does it, and why the brand does it.

The litmus test is to replace your company's name with a competitor's name. If the statement works with the competitor's name inserted, you haven't captured the unique characteristics of the organization and need to re-work it.

Mission and vision statements play three critical roles: (1) communicate the purpose of the organization to stakeholders, (2) inform strategy development, and (3) develop the measurable goals and objectives by which to gauge the success of the organization's strategy.

A purpose statement provides the reason or reasons you exist. It is about why you exist, whereas the mission is about what you do and for whom. This distinction is often difficult to extract from strategic plans or corporate websites.

What do we do? How do we do it? Whom do we do it for? What value are we bringing?

Your mission statement is what your company is doing right now, while your vision statement is what you hope to achieve in the future – where you are in this moment versus where you're going.

The Bottom Line

A mission statement is a simple and brief description that encompasses the purpose of a company defining its culture, goals, and values.

In politics, a litmus test is a question asked of a potential candidate for high office, the answer to which would determine whether the nominating official would proceed with the appointment or nomination.

What is another term for litmus test? ›

litmus test (noun as in test with single indicator) Weak matches. acid test base test.

A strip of paper that is chemically treated with a dye named litmus. This strip is placed in the liquid whose pH is being determined. The use of litmus paper, which is red at any pH less than 5 and blue at any pH greater than 8, allows an inspector to determine only whether a solution is acidic or basic.

Together, the vision, mission, and values statements provide direction for everything that happens in an organization. They keep everyone focused on where the organization is going and what it is trying to achieve.

The mission confirms the benefits and value of the project. It answers the “what” and “how” question. The mission helps motivate your team to move forward, allowing each team member to own their work and decisions to support the common goal. It provides the basis for performance metrics and evaluation.

The first is a statement of vision. It provides a destination for the organization. Next is a statement of mission. This is a guiding light of how to get to the destination.

A meaningful personal mission statement contains two basic elements. The first is what you want to do – what you want to accomplish, what contributions you want to make. The second is what you want to be – what character strengths you want to have, what qualities you want to develop.