Organizational Leadership

© 2010 International Church of Metaphysical Humanism, Inc. All rights reserved • www.TFUniversity.org • Distribution Prohibited. Page 1

Thomas Francis University • Course G381 • Segment 3

—Douglas R. Kelley, PhD, CH, CSL

Upon Completion of this Segment, You Will Know:

 How to develop your Team Mission, Vision, and Shared Values.

 Your Team Mission Statement.

 Your Team Vision Statement.

 Your Team Shared Values Statement.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.

—Mark Twain

he process of defining your team mission, vision, and values will help you and your team to

be on the same page as well as minimize potential problems. Your team mission, vision, and

values statements are meant to support and underpin your company’s overall mission, vision,

and values, therefore, you will want to use these as your master.

Different definitions and descriptions exist on the difference between a mission and vision state-

ment. The following definitions are meant to keep things simple:

Mission Statement: A Mission Statement is a concise statement describing your team’s

purpose and reason for existence.

Vision Statement: A Vision Statement can be longer than a Mission statement and simply

describes how you will accomplish your Mission and where you see yourself in the future.

Take some time now to outline suitable Mission and Vision statements for your team. Once you’ve

completed a basic draft, present it to your team for their input. Share your leadership by getting your

employee’s ideas and thoughts on the matter. Don’t skip the exercises in this segment; you will need

them for the Course Assignment.

The following questions may help you in composing your Mission and Vision statements:

 Why are we doing this?

 What do we hope to accomplish?

Segment 3: Defining Your Team Mission, Vision, and Shared Values

© 2010 International Church of Metaphysical Humanism, Inc. All rights reserved • www.TFUniversity.org • Distribution Prohibited. Page 2

 What do we hope to contribute to the field?

 What kind of reputation do we want to establish?

 How will we ensure the credibility of our team?

 What will make our team different and unique?

Please pause and complete your Team Mission and Vision Statements now. If you are not yet a

manager, simply create a Team Mission and Vision Statement as an exercise

Now that you’ve completed your Mission and Vision statements, it’s time to complete your Shared

Values statement. Your Shared Values statement simply describes your team’s core values, e.g., hon-

esty, dependability, effective communication, stability, reasonableness, acting responsibly and pro-

fessionally, etc. These core values are essentially the core values you and your employees already

possess and use in life.

A generic example of a Shared Values statement follows. It is merely a concise method and you

are free to expand or modify it as you desire.

OUR SHARED VALUES: We believe in professional, courteous, and ethical conduct. We

respect fellow team members and afford them the same dignity we individually desire.

We believe in communication that is calm and non-accusatory. We respect and willingly

cooperate with other departments and personnel. We take pride in who we are, and

we safeguard our reputation in the field above all else.

Similar to the Mission and Vision statements exercise above, draft an initial Shared Values state-

ment below that comprises what you would want included.

Now that you have a basic idea of what you want, present it to your team for their input. Getting

your team involved in developing your Shared Values is extremely important for a variety of reasons:

 Promotes the Ownership Attitude;

 Builds trust and self-esteem;

 Builds a team-oriented attitude;

 Gives everyone a foundation for interpersonal relationships.

In addition, if each team member has a part in determining your Shared Values and then signs off

on it, you will have ammunition, so to speak, if any one of them violates it. If necessary, you can

point out to the violating employee that he or she had a part in ratifying the Shared Values and

therefore must abide by it.

As a reminder, be sure to take into consideration your company’s policies as well as Mission and

Vision statements when developing your document. You may even want to run it by HR to make sure

it doesn’t conflict with any company policies.

Once you and your team have completed the development of your Mission, Vision, and Share Values

statements, produce a single page document and have each employee make a commitment by signing

off on it. Also give each team member a personal copy. You may even want to make a poster-size

version to display in your work area(s).