Mission, Vision, Values
This blog represents a 28% completion of my yearlong goal: 52 Blogs, one published every Friday for a year. Many New Year’s resolutions are abandoned in January, so I’m fairly pleased to be on track fifteen weeks into the year, looking at April on the calendar. As I looked at my calculator while dividing 15 into 52, I thought about a dinner conversation I had with my two oldest children the other night. Jack, my 16-year-old son, said something about the restaurant we were eating in’s core values. I explained that it makes me so happy and proud to hear him use language like that. At that point, he and my 18-year-old daughter Charlotte began to make fun of me, acting like me speaking in public on the stage … “Generosity is a core value because we believe in giving away what God has given us.” It was fun and funny, and it was also amazing how much two human teenagers can remember when we communicate with intentionality.
The conversation shifted from messing with each other to core values. I told them the joy and freedom I have experienced since determining my personal mission, vision, and values and challenged them to begin to think about their own. I shared mine with them at the table and asked, “How am I doing?” Jack quickly responded that it sounded like me, and he saw it. I told them that as they grow up and in influence, the demand for their time and attention becomes even more of a challenge than it is in high school. Knowing who you are and what and why you do helps us make decisions that ultimately impact our greatest resources, time, and energy.
I’m writing this blog at least 37 more times this year and thinking of writing a book in the next couple of years. I’m writing this because I’m curious. I think it has the potential to serve others. It’s helping me grow. It’s become fun to write. I’m growing in wisdom, and I’m optimistic that this will, step by step, make the world more awesome.
Leaders… What are your mission, vision, and values, and how are you living them today?