The Seeds of Your Strategic Plan: Your Firm Mission
Recently on the blog, we talked about the importance of establishing a “shared vision” for your firm and team. Before you read on, be sure to pause and check out that article, which describes the hands-on exercises you can use to engage your team members and leadership and work together to create a powerful vision for your firm. Your vision is a crucial building block that will lay the foundation for the steps needed to develop what we’re talking about today: the shared, strategic mission you will adopt firm-wide.
To recap, your vision is the purpose and passion that drives everything you do — it’s the singular point of your “totem pole,” or the long-term growth trajectory that your firm is striving to cultivate. It’s the big picture that energizes your A-Players, motivates them to perform at their greatest potential, and drives them to engage in the strategic goals that lead to that singular point.
Put simply, it’s “the why.”
But a vision without action is nothing but a picture. To bring your vision to fruition, you must determine the specific steps you should take to achieve the right results. Your firm mission is the “how.”
A Mission That Moves You Forward
Pull out a sheet of paper and write down your answers to these questions. Take your time, write freely, and go into as much detail as you can.
How are you changing your clients’ lives?
What does your firm do for clients that distinguishes it from other advisory firms?
What are the top three areas of progress that will deliver the most value to your clients?
What do you do to help your clients make good decisions?
Picture a world in which your personal mission and your firm’s mission are aligned. Consider your personal and professional development, and your physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial well-being. What would your firm need to do to ensure you feel fulfilled in all of these areas?
Next, follow these steps:
Ask your leadership team (and/or all of your team members) to answer the same questions you answered above.
Now, go back through all the responses to these questions and the responses to the questions we asked in the “Shared Vision” article. Highlight all of the action words in your responses and ask the team to do the same in their own work.
Together with your team, form several phrases of what you “do” to deliver success to your clients.
Then, find the three most important ways you achieve your “why” for clients. This is your draft mission.
Test Your Draft Mission
Your mission should differentiate your firm in the marketplace, serve as a filter for all of your activities, and guide all of the decisions you make. A clear mission that passes these tests helps your firm stand out from the crowd and allows your team members to better understand how they contribute to your firm’s success.
All of these building blocks are crucial to the growth of your firm and team. A shared vision and mission play a pivotal role in creating a culture that attracts A-Players who are ready to engage, thrive, and work together to improve the ultimate, long-term success of your firm and its clients.
Ready to move forward with developing your team of A-Players? We encourage you to connect with our team to start the process. Click here to get in touch
Once you have established your vision and mission, it's time to tackle the next step: your strategic plan. Tune into the blog on August 21, where we'll cover the key steps you should take to develop a collaborative plan that drives the long-term, strategic growth of your firm.
