Mission and Vision-The Power Team

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

There seems to be a misnomer about these two words when looking at leadership/team, planning, dreaming, life styles, career planning and goal setting.

The Mission…

A mission is an important assignment carried out for political, religious or commercial purposes.  It is a long-term assignment, vocation or calling of a religious organization, a strongly felt aim, or ambition.  It is core to the individual or the group in which it resonates and a vital part of their identity.  It is why the company or organization exists.  It is the why and what you and I are here to do.

The mission governs what we give our life, time, talents, resources and energy to.  It is the source of our passion.  It is what we lay our life down for and that which causes us to rise up to protect and fight for.  The mission defines our fulfillment and significance.  Therefore, the mission is the compass, calibrated to TRUE NORTH, for the journey in life.  This compass has been placed in the heart of every person to give direction, wisdom and confirmation that we are on the right path.

It is interesting that with the power of a mission that most people have not even considered a mission statement.  That translates to this; most people are traveling through uncharted territory without using a compass.  They are found wondering through life without hopes or dreams of anything more than what they have or blaming others for the state of their position in life.

There are others that have charted a coarse based on strengths, education, and experiences; climbing corporate ladders and living goal oriented lives.  Many have achieved these goals or climbed to high places without the rewards of fulfillment for the sacrifice made—family, integrity, energy and peace.  They are worn out and have not experienced the rewards of fulfillment they had hoped for.  They believed they were living the life they were supposed to live.  Their compass didn’t serve them well in bringing them to their desired destination.   They discover that they have lived a counterfeit life; a life that appeared to be real, but is without the substance that will bring fulfillment and significance.

Let me bring this home.  Is the compass guiding you in your path of life accurate?  Is it pointing to magnetic north or to true north?  There is a difference.

Magnetic North and True North.

Magnetic north is the point on the earth’s surface where the north magnetic pole of the earth’s magnetic field “emerges” from the earth. This point is not fixed, but moves or shifts as the earth’s magnetic field changes. It moves, and it should be noted that the polarity of the magnetic field has abruptly “flipped” or changed direction many times over the billions of years the earth has been here.

True north is that point on the northern or “upper” part of the earth where the earth’s axis of rotation meets the surface of the earth. This is also called the geographic or terrestrial North Pole.

The difference is essentially one is the astronomical characteristics of the earth, (that axis of rotation thing), and one is the earth’s geophysics, (the earth’s magnetic field and its unstable nature).

When we don’t know our mission, we make choices and decisions from the desires, thinking, fears, experiences and reasoning we have accumulated in the early parts of life’s journey.  We make them from where we ARE, i.e. Magnetic North.

Like Magnetic North, this compass is unstable and can’t be trusted for the life long journey and purpose.  It is relative to where we are and therefore, cannot direct us for the divine journey that was knit together and placed within us.  That compass may be only a few degrees off, but if you know anything about starting a few degrees off, you’ll know that where you finish, will be way off the mark.  You will not arrive at the desired destination; you will not have the desired results.

True North is determined from the astronomical characteristics of the earth; the axis of rotation, which is determined by the earth’s position and rotation in the heavens. Therefore, true north is an absolute.  It isn’t changed by the shifts in the tectonic plates under the earth’s surface.  It doesn’t wander and isn’t moved by what place or position WE are in.  It is fixed.

Because it is sure, it can be used to chart a lifetime journey, accurately.  This is the compass that will confirm we are on the right course, even when things around us don’t look like it.  Even when life shakes us, presses against us, and works to intimidate us from moving forward, THIS compass will give us a true point of reference to insure we are on the right path.

Like True North, our mission will be a tool that will help us in our thinking, choices and decisions.  It will tell us what we need to be involved in, who we should be traveling with, areas we need to stay away from and areas where we are to walk boldly in spite of current situations.  Our mission is what we are here to do.  It is core to who we are and it is the center of our passions and fulfillment.

The Vision…

A vision is the faculty or state of BEING ABLE to SEE, the ability to think about and plan the future with imagination or wisdom, a mental image of what the future will or could be, a dream, or a vivid mental image.

The vision is what it will look like; the destination.  It will be the fullness of the mission lived out.

The vision will capture the completed or on-target mission.  It’s the landscape of our life.  That is why two people can have the same mission, yet how it is realized can be completely different from each other.

The vision is the visual expression of the mission being completed.  It captures the colors, textures, movement, sounds and energy, of the mission.  It illustrates the methods, results, participants and environment of the journey.  Someone in Australia can have the same mission as another in Africa, yet the vision will look completely different.

While the mission is full of passion; the vision is full of power.  The mission is the heartbeat; the vision is the fulfillment of the life that was lived with every beat.

Your mission may be to save the lives of cancer patients, but the vision will be the captured image of people being healed and made whole; living life full.  It will be sprinkled with all those who helped you bring that cure to pass and all that was built and put in place to facilitate the work.  It will be the expression of your joy—you making a difference along with the rewards of your labor.

The mission to save cancer patients helped you stay on course, even when things looked bleak.  The vision, the hope, is what got you up every morning to meet the challenges.  It pulled your forward.

A mission serves us daily.  A vision sets up a legacy.

We really can’t have one without the other and get the results of this combination.  They are a powerful team.

The vision brings others into our path.  When you and I create a vision, it doesn’t only pull us forward.  As we cast a vision, as we tell others about it, it pulls others to itself.  A vision opens our path into a territory where there is room for others.

None of us are an island unto ourselves.  Not only are we are better together, but we also need each other to fill our potential and be enlarged in our ability and capacity.  Humans are visual creations.  Therefore, are drawn to vision.  People are drawn to powerful, hopeful and positive visions.  All of us want to be on the winning team and when we SEE a vision of a winning team, company, or organization, we want to be a part and are drawn to it.

We see this in companies and organizations.  Vision statements create an image that people can SEE.  When individuals SEE a vision, they can SEE themselves as a part of that vision.  When they SEE themselves as a part of the vision, they will find their place within the vision and take ownership of it. People find their place when a vision is clearly cast; when it is clearly communicated.

Mission and Vision are a powerful team.  When people with a mission gather to be a part of a well cast vision, synergy is the result.  Energy, creativity, enthusiasm, passion, sacrifice, strength, skill, tenacity and commitment show up.

When people with a mission gather to be part of a vision, fulfillment and significance are the rewards that money cannot buy.

When people with a mission unite to be a part of a well cast vision, they will rise up to build and they will lay down their life to defend it. People with missions will take ownership of vision.

Visions are the tapestry of color and textures woven together on purpose, with purpose—they are the result of the mission that charted the course.

Today, ask yourself these questions:

• Am I on course to fulfill the mission I am here for?
• What is my mission?  Is it clear, concise and effectively working in my daily life?
• What is the destination in life that I am hoping for; what is my vision?
• Have I discerned the difference between my mission and vision?  Do I have both?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, I challenge you to create a mission statement for your life.   

Here are some misconceptions regarding what a Mission is.  These thoughts would suggest that your compass is calibrated to Magnetic North…

“My job is my mission.”

“My role is my mission.”

“My to-do/goal list is my mission.”

“Currently, I am not living my mission.”

“I am not important enough to have a mission.”

“I am living my parents (other authority figure’s) mission.”

“My mission is to be a grand one and impact lots of people.”

“A mission is to be full of suffering.”

“My mission must be the same as the people/peers that are in my life.”

“Where I am from and where I am now, is my destiny.”

“What I am doing now is as close as I can get to my real mission.”

“Life is random; I am an accident.”

Create a personal mission statement and begin to dream and envision what your mission would look like as it is lived out.

Live on purpose, with purpose.