PuzzleJUST TODAY I was speaking with a business leader who has some pieces of their purpose and mission, but not the whole thing.

This is more common than you’d think.

Here’s what it might look like.  You started your business five years ago, with some thoughts about where it might go:

  • I want to do something that makes a difference
  • I think I could enjoy working in this industry
  • I’d love to have a team that’s inspired and super smart
  • I need to make a living, this isn’t a hobby.

These are great as far as they go, but they’re just incomplete fragments of your company’s mission or vision.  It doesn’t even say what the business does, much less define “make a difference.”

So your task is to get much more concrete and specific.

Perhaps you want to market a device that purifies drinking water.  You’re going to sell this at a decent price in developed countries, and much cheaper in developing countries.  Now we can see what “make a difference” means!  Certainly you’re improving the lives of people all over the world.

We still haven’t captured what your organization looks like, though.  Are you looking for PhDs?  Do you want people who are extremely passionate about safe water?  Is diversity of backgrounds important?

It’s a choice you get to make.  Pick the balance which helps you deliver your mission, make a great company, and inspires you as a leader.  Then attract the right people and create it!

I see too many people who get stuck at the stage of these “fragments of the dream.”  They’re not a bad start, but they don’t help you much to make the right decisions and inspire the right people.

Make the choices.

Do it.