%20(400%20x%20100%20px)%20(3).png)
Mission, Vision, Values & Goals
If you want to build high-performance teams, you need to create an environment where people know their work matters—where they feel valued, recognized, and supported.
​
You can’t elevate performance without engaging people in a clear mission, vision, values, and goals.
​
Just like a hot air balloon rises when everyone works together, these guidelines will help you define your direction, engage your team, and elevate performance to new heights.
LISTEN TO IT ON AUDIO
Why Mission, Vision, Goals and Values are important. How they're commonly overlooked and why it's a problem
Pop-up / Modal / Overlay
Create and insert interrupt
Here's What We've Got To Help You
Every business needs a clear purpose (mission), a sense of direction (vision), a shared way of behaving (values), and clear milestones to track progress (goals). Together, these give people something to rally around — guiding both daily actions and long-term decisions.
​
Goals help turn intent into impact. They track progress and milestones along the way. The best goals are specific, time-bound, and actionable — set weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually.
​
​
Below you'll can see a quick reference guide and as you scroll down, you can discover the full picture.​
​
.png)
Here's The Problem
Clarity Of Expectation Is Missing In The Workforce—And It’s Costing Results
A Deloitte survey found only 21% of employees can correctly identify their company’s mission statement, and just 10% feel the mission is reflected in their daily work.
This lack of clarity directly affects productivity: over half of UK employees believe they would be more productive if they understood how their work connects to company objectives, with nearly half estimating this clarity could boost productivity by 50% or more.
Research shows that clear goals can positively impact performance by as much as 40% of the difference in team effectiveness.
Yet, more than 70% of employees feel disengaged, often because their individual goals are unclear or misaligned with the organization’s vision. Gallup research reveals that two in five employees only sometimes, rarely, or never know what is expected of them.
In fact, about half of all employees lack a clear understanding of their role expectations.
WARNING
Employers are failing to set and communicate objectives clearly, resulting in a widespread lack of understanding of purpose and expectations—from top to bottom and across all teams. This gap undermines engagement, productivity, and overall organizational success.
Success is never achieved in isolation. Your mission, vision, values, and goals only come to life when you and your people work better together.
Here's The Problem
How does this apply to your business?
A deeper dive into mission, vision, values and goals
CEO’S VISION
Creating a “North Star” vision for your business.
The North Star is a metaphor often used in business and leadership. Historically, sailors used the North Star to navigate because it was a constant point in the sky. In an organizational context:
-
The Vision is often described as the organization’s “North Star.”
-
It represents the ultimate goal or destination that guides all decisions and strategies.
-
Just like sailors use the North Star to stay on course, organizations use their vision to ensure they’re heading in the right direction, even when challenges arise.
This framework helps every function see how their work connects to the company’s vision and performance. It gives teams a clear “North Star” to aim for—so we can all win together.
The vision is your organization’s big, inspiring goal for the future.
It answers:
"Where are we going?" or "What do we want to achieve in the long run?"
-
Focuses on the future
-
Inspires and motivates
-
Sets a clear direction for growth
Win Together. Lead with Purpose. Perform at Our Best.
To be the company customers trust,
talent seeks out, and competitors watch—because we deliver outstanding value, lead with integrity, and never stop improving.
With the right vision, your people gain clarity, purpose, and drive—unlocking their best performance so you can lead and win together.
A deeper dive into mission, vision, values and goals
It’s common—and often strategic—for CEOs to have two distinct but aligned visions: one tailored for investors and another for employees and the public. One answers “Why invest in us?” The other answers “Why work for us or believe in us?”
Investor-Facing Vision
Focus: Money, growth, and staying ahead of the competition.
Tone: Businesslike and number-heavy.
What it covers:
-
Growing revenue
-
Improving profits
-
Expanding fast
-
Getting more market share
-
Delivering strong returns
Examples:
“We plan to grow to $100M Revenue.”
“Our 5-year plan is to exit the business with an IPO, trade sale or management buy out.”
It answers:
Focus: Purpose, people, and making a difference.
Tone: Uplifting and people-first.
What it covers:
-
Building a great place to work
-
Creating real value for customers
-
Having a positive impact
-
Inspiring and retaining talent
-
Supporting sustainability
Examples:
-
“We exist to make data simpler and fairer for everyone.”
-
“We’re building a workplace where people thrive and customers feel heard.”
A deeper dive into mission, vision, values and goals
Mission
Why do we exist and what do we do right now? To grow a high-performing, customer-focused business where everyone knows the goal, feels proud of the work, and plays their part in achieving results that matter.
-
Focuses on the present
-
Describes what the organization does every day
-
Explains why the business does what it does
-
Helps attract the right people—staff, customers, investors
-
Guides daily operations and decisions
-
Supports better decisions by keeping things aligned with purpose
Vision
The vision is your organization’s big, inspiring goal for the future. It answers:
"Where are we going?" or "What do we want to achieve in the long run?"
-
Focuses on the future
-
Inspires and motivates
-
Sets a clear direction for growth
Values
Values are the beliefs and principles that guide how your organization behaves and makes decisions. They answer: "How do we behave and what do we believe in?"
Rather than an endless list you probably want to identify 4-6 of them, they’d be ones such as: Results Focused, Compassion, Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork, Innovation and Social Responsibility.
-
Shape company culture
-
Guide everyday actions and choices
-
Help resolve conflicts and set priorities
Goals
Goals turn vision into action and mission into measurable results. Most are quantitative—using numbers, percentages, and deadlines—while a few may be qualitative, focused on aspirations like exceptional design or customer experience. The best goals are SMART: Specific (clear), Measurable (trackable), Actionable (tied to real steps), Realistic (achievable), and Time-bound (anchored to deadlines). When goals meet these criteria, they provide clarity, motivation, and a clear path to success.
Real World Examples
Reflect on What Resonates
When you read the mission, vision, and values of other organizations, let them spark ideas for your own.
Use these examples to inspire fresh thinking about what truly matters for your business.
Real World Examples
Ambition Meets Reality
Some statements may sound bold or suited only to giants like Google or Tesla.
The key is to craft mission, vision, and values that are both realistic for your context and ambitious enough to stretch your team—giving everyone something meaningful to believe in.
Real World Examples
Every Company Counts
Not every business is a household name, but every company plays a vital role.
Whether you build homes, keep people warm, or brighten someone’s day, what you do matters.
Help your people see the importance of their work—because your company truly counts.
DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP MODEL
Developing A CEOs Vision
Putting Vision into Action
If you're a CEO, you may already have a clear vision. If not, now is the time to define—or revisit—it.
Start with your long-term objective: What are you ultimately trying to achieve? How will you know you’ve succeeded, and by when?
Once your vision is clear, work backwards. Identify key milestones your company needs to hit—in product development, sales, marketing, delivery, and customer experience.
All of this is dependent on sound financial planning, clear accountability, healthy cashflow, and the strength of high-performing teams.
DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP MODEL
Not A CEO
DEVELOPING A MANDATE FOR YOUR
If you're not a CEO and are a leader of a business unit you should align the purpose, focus and goals of your function and teams with how they need to support the organisations Mission, Vision and Values.
If your CEO has not yet defined the organisation’s Mission, Vision, and Values, you may wish to propose that these foundational elements be established, as they provide crucial direction and alignment for the entire business. In the absence of formal guidance, use logical reasoning and your understanding of the company’s objectives to align your team’s purpose and goals with what you perceive as the organisation’s strategic intent. And how your team can work well with others, to support their success, and gain theirs too.
LISTEN TO IT
ON AUDIO
Coming Soon
Developing Your Leadership Model
Everyday Leaders, Lasting Impact
Even if your company isn’t a household name, your work shapes lives and communities.
Leadership here means making a real difference—helping people see the value in what they do, every single day.
This approach reminds your team that leadership is about purpose and connection, not just prestige or headlines. It sets the stage for practical, meaningful engagement—no matter your industry or company size.
.png)
.png)
.png)
THINK IT OVER FIRST
Don’t slip up on the basics.
Reflect on your mission, vision, values, and goals.
Review the guidelines below and take a week to reflect.
DEVELOPING
YOUR
LEADERSHIP
MODEL
Step 1: Define the Foundation
Mission
Why do we exist and what do we do every day? What is our core purpose that shapes how we operate and make decisions right now?
Vision
Where are we going? What’s the big, inspiring goal that motivates and guides us — our “North Star”?
Team Goals
What must your team achieve to support business success?
Individual Goals
Individual goals must be clearly defined—not just in isolation, but in the context of the team. Each person needs to understand what they’re responsible for and how their contributions support the broader mission. It’s not only about completing tasks, but also about showing up with the right mindset. Everyone has a role to play, and when someone falls short—whether through inaction or a negative attitude—it can compromise the team’s momentum. Meeting expectations is not optional; it’s essential to collective success.
How Goals Fit In
Goals translate mission into measurable action and help track progress toward your long-term vision. Effective goals should be SMART — Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound. At every level — team and individual — goals provide structure, focus, and momentum. They turn intention into progress.
Core Values
How do we behave, and what do we believe in?” Strong values shape company culture, help resolve conflict, and define what’s right—even when no one is watching.
DEVELOPING
YOUR
LEADERSHIP
MODEL
Step 2: Draft Your Team Mandate
What we’re really doing here is creating a clear mandate—one that drives purpose, priorities, and performance.
Your challenge, as a leader or manager, is to build something realistic and actionable—aligned with business needs, tailored to your team, and powerful enough to inspire. People need to feel that what they do matters. They need to see how their work connects to the company's mission, vision, and "big idea."
This section is designed for leaders below C-level—those responsible for crafting team-level purpose and goals to bring out the best in people and raise performance.
There should be a strong alignment between your team’s objectives and your team members’ job specs. While some teams perform similar tasks, many don’t—which means your mandate needs to be flexible yet cohesive. Everyone should clearly understand how their individual contributions support the team’s success.
Make sure each person understands their specific goals and responsibilities—how their daily work contributes to the bigger picture. When individual goals ladder up to team goals, performance becomes more focused and measurable.
Draft your ideas, but don’t finalise them yet.
Before setting things in stone, involve your team. This has three key benefits:
-
It boosts engagement.
-
It helps catch blind spots or missteps.
-
It gives you insight into who’s aligned, who’s hesitant, and what motivates them.
DEVELOPING
YOUR
LEADERSHIP
MODEL
Step 3: Bring Them In On It.
Great leadership starts with listening.
Start by explaining why this matters—and why they matter:
“Here’s what I’m thinking. What do you think?”
Remember, you are the boss. This isn’t about radically overhauling your plans, but rather about considering their ideas and perspectives. The goal is to spot anything you may have missed or misjudged, and to make your team feel included and valued.
Gather feedback through workshops, surveys, or small group discussions. Listen carefully, thank them for their input, and let them know you’ll reflect on everything before presenting a final version.
This approach supports open communication and reinforces team engagement.
DEVELOPING
YOUR
LEADERSHIP
MODEL
Step 4: Write “The Team Mandate”
Purpose, Priorities & Performance
Your mission speaks to what the company does every day. Your team’s purpose adds meaning at the team level—why your specific group exists within the bigger picture.
Now it's time to make it real.
Begin Step 4 by drafting or refining your company’s Vision and Mission — these are the foundation for everything that follows. Then, build out your framework using the list below: define your team’s purpose, priorities, goals, values, and ways of working.
This is where your leadership model comes to life. Each element in this section connects purpose to performance.
1. Vision
If your company already has a vision, bring it in here. This ensures your team is aligned and working toward the same North Star. This should clearly state: Where are we going? What’s the big, inspiring goal that motivates and guides us—our North Star?
2. Mission
Likewise, if a company mission already exists, include it here to help your team stay grounded in purpose and aligned with core decisions. It should answer: Why do we exist and what do we do every day? What is our core purpose that shapes how we operate and make decisions right now?
3. Purpose
Craft a clear, compelling mantra—a single sentence that captures your team’s reason for being. It should inspire belief that the team’s work makes a meaningful difference.
4. Priorities
Identify your team’s key objectives. Clarify their order. Some carry more urgency or impact than others, and prioritisation brings alignment and focus.
When determining priorities for a team, it’s essential to ensure they are both qualitative (focused on values, behaviors, and cultural aspirations) and quantitative (anchored in measurable outcomes and data). This dual approach ensures a balanced framework that drives both performance and culture, making priorities actionable, trackable, and meaningful.
​
5. Team Goals
Define what the team must accomplish to be considered successful. Use the Primary–Secondary–Tertiary goal framework to create clarity and focus. These should align closely with your team mandate and company objectives.
6. Other Priorities
Highlight themes such as innovation, efficiency, inclusion, or customer satisfaction. Link to supporting documents if needed.
7. Individual Goals
When developing your team’s mandate, it’s important to consider the individual goals of each team member—especially since responsibilities may vary. This helps ensure that no key objectives are overlooked and that every person feels integral to the team’s overall mission. Individual goals should translate the broader team objectives into specific, role-relevant targets that align with each person’s job description and make the most of their unique strengths.
​
But individual goals must be clearly defined—not just in isolation, but in the context of the team. Each person needs to understand what they’re responsible for and how their contributions support the bigger picture. It’s not only about completing tasks, but also about showing up with the right mindset. Everyone has a role to play, and when someone falls short—whether through inaction or a negative attitude—it can compromise the team’s momentum. Meeting expectations is not optional; it’s essential to collective success.
​
8. Teamwork
“We’re better together.” Everyone brings value. We all need to step up, perform to a high standard, support one another, and share the load—especially during change or pressure. Success depends not just on delivery, but on collaboration across business units.
9. Values
Values are your behavioural compass. Use them to guide decisions, actions, and accountability. Define your core team values—perhaps include company-wide ones and add a few specific to your team. How do we behave, and what do we believe in? Strong values shape company culture, help resolve conflict, and define what’s right—even when no one is watching.
One of the key values has got to be “Better Together” your mission, vision, values, and goals are powerful—but only when you and your people pursue them together.
​
​
Now you can document the mandate for your business or department, which you may wish to call “Our Mandate”.
When setting purpose, priorities, goals and values, you should bring a focus to those actionable areas that count most placing them in order of importance, most important items at the top of each topic and bringing focus to them using bullet points i.e. not an endless list for example.
-
Purpose may be best described in a narrative of three to five lines of text.
-
Priorities and team goals collectively perhaps 7-10 bullet pointed items.
-
Values up to six.
After outlining the most important items in bullet points in each topic, you may then wish to state other areas of importance in perhaps long paragraphs as appropriate at the end of each topic.
Create a clean, well-designed document—use our Word template or export to PDF.
​
Download “Our Mandate” A Template In Word
Download/View Example “Our Mandate” in PDF Format
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Keep It Alive
A leadership model isn’t a one-off document. It’s a living guide. Revisit it regularly. Communicate it often. And use it to lead with purpose. Action place a calendar reminder 6-12 months on from now... Ask Yourself: “Is our mandate still fit for purpose?”
DEVELOPING
YOUR
LEADERSHIP
MODEL
Step 5: Final Checks and Share
Have someone check it over...
This isn’t a time for spelling or grammatical mistakes.
The principle here is to create something that’s going to be highly effective and uplifting.
So get someone to look it over before sharing it with the team.
Share it
When announcing the documented mandate, emphasize its importance as our shared foundation for decision-making and collaboration. Encourage everyone to align their daily actions with our mission, vision, values, and goals, and invite open discussion to ensure clarity and collective commitment. Let’s use this as a roadmap to inspire our work and drive our success together.
Keep It Alive
A leadership model isn’t a one-off document. It’s a living guide. Revisit it regularly. Communicate it often. And use it to lead with purpose.
​
Better Together
Your mission, vision, values, and goals are powerful—but only when you and your people pursue them together. Commit to being better together, every day.
WHAT NEXT?
FIVE ACTIVATION LEVERS
Putting Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals Into Action.
​
Defining your mission, vision, values, and goals is just the beginning. The real impact comes when you put them into practice—turning words into daily behaviors, decisions, and results.
​
High-performing teams don’t just talk about what matters—they live it. By activating your purpose and principles, you elevate performance and create an environment where everyone pulls together, every day, to achieve more than they could alone.
The following activation levers will help you embed your leadership model, keep it alive, and ensure your team’s direction isn’t just understood—but truly lived.
LISTEN TO IT
ON AUDIO
Coming Soon
FIVE
ACTIVATION
LEVERS
A Leadership Playbook
Activation Levers: Turning Your Leadership Model Into Daily Practice
Now that you’ve defined your team’s purpose, priorities, and performance model — it’s time to keep it alive. These Activation Levers help you embed and sustain your leadership approach through ongoing behaviour, rhythm, and reinforcement.
​
1) Bringing Them In On It
Share your vision, mission, values, and goals openly and often—so everyone sees their fingerprints on the future you’re building together.
​
2) Keeping Them In On It
Keep your mission, vision, values, and goals alive by weaving them into every conversation—during interviews, onboarding, one-to-ones, team meetings, and internal campaigns—so clarity and alignment reach every corner of your organization.
​
3) Taking The Temperature
If you’re not picking up on whether your team is energized or disengaged, you’re missing the signals that drive performance. Don’t assume—ask, listen, and act.
​
4) Build Them Up
Make them feel valued by connecting your teams contributions to the bigger picture, building their confidence, and making every team member—and the team as a whole—feel seen, heard, important, and essential.
​
5) Make It Safe & Supportive
Create an environment where everyone feels confident to speak up, share ideas, and challenge the status quo—because real progress happens when people know their voices matter and their contributions are valued.
FIVE
ACTIVATION
LEVERS
Activation Lever 1:
Bringing them in on it.
1
Share the vision, mission, values, and goals widely and regularly in team meetings — assuming, of course, you’ve already brought them in on it during development. If that’s the case, you’ll already know what they liked, where they leaned in, and which ideas they contributed. So when you present the details, you’ll have a good sense of how it will land.
If someone was strongly against one or more ideas, consider speaking to them in advance. Let them know you’ve listened to their views and weighed them carefully — but you’ve had to decide what’s best for the company and the team overall. You might want to explain your reasoning. Let them know you’ll be sharing the final version with the wider team — and that you’re looking for their support. You could ask directly: “Can I count on your support?”
When you communicate the details, do so with enthusiasm and belief. Remind them why what they do matters. Share the document outlining the vision, mission, values, and goals — and bring it to life.
FIVE
ACTIVATION
LEVERS
Activation Lever 2:
Keeping them in on it
2
Talk about the mission, vision, values, and goals widely on an ongoing basis—when interviewing, onboarding, and as appropriate in one to ones, in meetings, and internal campaigns—ensuring clarity top to bottom and left to right. Where appropriate share your document that outlines it.
Tip: Begin every team conversation with a reminder of your company’s North Star (Vision) and daily purpose (Mission).
Regularly ask your team:
-
What’s working well in how we use our mission, vision, values, and goals?
-
What’s missing or unclear?
-
What’s one thing we could do better next quarter?
-
Which of our current initiatives or actions most clearly support our mission—and which feel misaligned?”
-
Use this guiding question when evaluating change or opportunities: Does this bring us closer to our vision?
If you asked your team members to list their top five objectives, what would they say—and in what order would they rank them? Would their priorities align with your expectations, or would you discover surprising gaps in clarity and alignment.
Benchmark Tip: Include this in your quarterly reviews — it’s fast, powerful, and makes your model live.
Share the model widely (onboarding, meetings, internal campaigns).
Sustaining the Model
Regularly revisit and refine the model based on feedback and business changes.
Ensure ongoing alignment with company vision and team needs.
FIVE
ACTIVATION
LEVERS
Activation Lever 3:
Taking the Temperature
3
There’s a need for you to understand the mood of the team and to create, and maintain an environment in which people buy into the mantra of being “Better Together”.
​
Communicate that every team member matters, and encourage everyone to step up and support one another. Even the most capable individuals have gaps—especially during times of change, high workload, illness, or absence. Success depends on working together.
​
Recognize and Celebrate Achievements​
Leadership and motivation aren’t just about the big wins. Make daily recognition a habit—acknowledge both major accomplishments and small, everyday successes. Go out of your way to thank people for standout contributions, but also show appreciation for consistent effort with a genuine “thank you,” “well done,” or “good point.” This consistent, sincere recognition boosts morale and reinforces that everyone’s work matters.
​
Foster Team Bonding
Build stronger connections through collaboration, mentoring, and inclusion. Encourage peer learning and support individual growth. Create opportunities for team members to work together, contribute to decisions, and share input—both collectively and individually. Where appropriate, promote mentoring relationships. These benefit both the mentor (through recognition and development) and the mentee (through personal growth).
​
Keep the Conversation Going
Regularly ask your team:
What’s working well...
See Activation Lever 2 for the full list of reflection questions.
Include this check-in during quarterly reviews. It’s quick, powerful, and helps keep your model alive and relevant.
FIVE
ACTIVATION
LEVERS
Activation Lever 4:
Build Them Up
4
A lot of people never succeed because they never tried.
​​
One of the biggest reasons we don’t develop, don’t accelerate our careers and don’t perform at the top level of performance as a business is self-doubt.
​
-
Fear of failure
-
Fear of rejection
-
Fear of not being good enough
Recognition should be part of your daily rhythm — a consistent thread of gratitude, encouragement, and belief.
Manage people individually – need to be supported, practically and emotionally. When other members in the team see that you care about others – this makes them feel that it is a team and that it demonstrates you’ve got their back too.
FIVE
ACTIVATION
LEVERS
Activation Lever 5:
Make It Safe & Supportive
5
To improve your business, continuous evolution is essential—and that means actively leveraging and applying ideas. Some ideas are clear winners with low risk; others are more uncertain. Often, it’s the unexpected or unconventional ideas that lead to the biggest breakthroughs.
Creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up is critical. Innovation and improvement require a culture that supports experimentation and accepts that failure is part of the process. This means being supportive of individuals and proactively mitigating risk.
People want to feel heard. When their views, opinions, and ideas are acknowledged, they feel empowered and valued. The opposite is also true—when people feel ignored, engagement and creativity suffer.
You can foster a high-performance, team-based culture by encouraging open dialogue and making it clear that all ideas—regardless of outcome—are welcome. Set the tone by:
​
-
Listening without judgment
-
Acknowledging every contribution
-
Reinforcing that respectful disagreement is healthy
Normalize learning from both successes and failures. Innovation thrives when people feel safe to share. Publicly thank those who contribute, even if their ideas aren’t adopted, and always offer constructive feedback.
Keep the feedback loop open. Regularly ask your team what’s working, what’s not, and show that you’re willing to adapt and improve together.
Sheryl Sandberg
"Motivation comes from working on things we care about. It also comes from working with people we care about.”
Whitney Wolfe Herd
Founder and CEO of Bumble
"When your mission is clear and your values are strong, your team will naturally align and drive toward a shared goal."
Jeff Bezos
"If you want to be inventive, you have to be willing to fail."
Leadership Mastery means creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and make mistakes. That’s how innovation happens.
​
If your team is scared to fail, they’ll play it safe—and you’ll miss out on their best ideas. People do their best work when they know they won’t be punished for trying something new.
​
Set clear boundaries. Define what’s in and out of scope. When people understand the limits, they feel free to move fast within them. That protects them, protects you, and protects the business.