Lesson 6: Vision, Mission, Values

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00:00 Okay, vision, mission, and values. This, uhm, can be a fun section, but it also can be a very challenging section sometimes for people.

00:12 And, while you may think, okay, at easy, you know, at first I'm just gonna write my, like, vision statement or mission statement, uhm, once it gets to actually putting pen to paper, your mind, for some reason, everyone's mind goes blank, and it's okay.

00:23 Uh, I'm going to walk you through that process. And so, just to kind of reiterate what I've been saying this entire lesson, is that these are things that are your North Star.

00:32 And, whether it's day 1 or day, you know, 30,000, uhm, I don't know, 1,000, 3 years in, whatever, uhm, you want to have a North Star.

00:44 You want to know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and constantly be, Rethinking about what you should be focusing on.

00:51 So, something that we're going to be following throughout, uhm, this particular presentation is a case study on American Express. If you think about American Express, uhm, if you notice a lot of their commercials kind of have to do with traveling, uhm, they're supposed to be like the travel credit card

01:06 just to kind of get you in that mindset. But that is kind of one, one company we'll be referring back to.

01:11 So let's start. Start with your vision. Your vision is your why. Why did you start your company? Uhm, if we all won like, like had a billion dollars, uhm, maybe we wouldn't be doing this.

01:22 Maybe, I don't know. I wouldn't be doing different things. I'd be on a cocktail, having a cocktail somewhere on a beach.

01:28 Uhm, and then also solving world hunger. Like, we're all in different stages. So we're all doing this, uhm, really because we want to take care of our families, yes.

01:38 And we want to take care of ourselves and, uhm, have great prosperous lives. But, why did you start this specific business?

01:44 Why did you get into bookkeeping? Uhm, think beyond just money. Think beyond just, you know, I need to take care of my family.

01:51 Uhm, why this? That is your why. Where? Where are you going? What is the plan with your company? Uhm, do you want to just keep it small?

02:01 Do you really have, like, a servant's heart to help a special niche? Uhm, what's the plan? And what is your bigger picture?

02:10 Is your vision so impactful that current or prospective employees would rather take a pay cut to work for you? Okay, so, uhm, so let's talk now about American Express.

02:29 Their vision is to provide the world's best customer experience every day. That vision statement has nothing to do with credit cards, it has nothing to do with travel, it has nothing to do with money.

02:41 It is extremely high level and that's what your vision statement should be. It should not be about the services you have, about the products you have.

02:50 If it does talk about your niche, you should be absolutely certain that is your niche and that you have made no plans on changing it.

02:57 It should be high level. What is the vision for your company? Now, ideally yours is going to relate to money and finances in some way, but that's okay if it doesn't.

03:06 If you want to, you know, down the road get into operations or marketing or what have you, that is okay too, but we don't you want to be thinking very high level here.

03:15 Okay. And so just to give you a little example, uh, this is our vision statement at MediaBooks to elevate exceptional accounting So I accounting that deserve to be known and have their story told.

03:26 Now, nowhere in that vision do I talk about web design or marketing. Or...courses. Um, have their story told. It is a little bit of a wink and a nod to marketing. of marketing.

03:40 But it isn't very explicit in saying that we pride the best websites to accounting firms. Again, very high level. Now accounting firms, it does say it in here.

03:49 Um, because we are very up front and forward and we know that this is our niche. Um. And so keep that in mind with your vision.

03:57 It is about things that you are absolutely certain of. It is high level and it is big picture. The next thing that we're going to talk about is your mission.

04:06 Your mission is your how. This is how you will. I'll achieve your vision. This is where you can get a little bit more specific in talking about, um, you know, your bookkeeping services or your advisory services.

04:18 This is where you can sort of say what your plan of action is. How will you get from where you are today to where your vision would have you be tomorrow?

04:26 Uh, going back to our case study, American Express, American Express, their mission statement is to become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.

04:41 Here we're talking about products. products, services, aspirations. They're getting a little bit more specific. They're still not saying, like, credit cards and lounges, but you kind of get the idea.

04:50 They're starting to narrow in a little bit more on what they do. Same thing with our mission statement. Our mission statement is to effectively translate marketing and drive creativity, so accounting firms can freely grow their practices.

05:01 Excuse me. Something you will notice with all of these statements are Our mission statement, American Express. Vision. There. Uhh. What are sort of short and sweet?

05:14 You don't need to tell your entire life story with this. One to two sentences tops. We're not looking to explain everything about us, all of our hopes and dreams, our entire resume and, you know, what our kid had for us.

05:26 This is, this is supposed to be very kind of, like, to the point. Okay, so the next section that we're gonna go over is your values.

05:34 Your values reflect your principles. They set the tone of your culture, establish a tangible standard, your values are what make you- You, it is what makes your business different and unique.

05:45 They are what creates your company's culture on the individual level. Your values are kind of like the personality traits of your organization.

05:55 Uhm, I mean, as I said, they reflect your feelings. And principles that the tone of your culture established tangible standard.

06:00 If you encounter anything that challenges these values, these are the hard lines in the sand. This is, no, no, no, no.

06:09 These are our values. This is what we stand by. And something else to come. What we consider with your values is that I want you to think of these as really what makes you unique and what's not as expected, but what, um, what would attract someone to want to work at your company?

06:29 When they hear about your values or hear about these different things that you set, what is going to really give them an idea of who you are and separates you as a bookkeeping or accounting firm from other bookkeeping and accounting firms?

06:42 Let's look at our case study, American Express, some of their values we deliver for our customers, we make it great, we do what's right, we respect people, we need different views, we win as a team, we care about our communities. 06:53 Now, this is a very large company. Um, and if- if you're maybe looking for companies that you want to work with, and let's say, um, you know, uh, we really care about your- your own community.

07:10 I'm trying to pick a value that I think would be a good example. Let's say you really- care about your own community, and you really want to make your community better.

07:17 Umm, and you go- and you have an interview at American Express. You would maybe ask, okay, what of your values is we care about our communities?

07:25 Can you tell me how? They should ideally be able to tell you- things that they do, maybe as a team, or in general, that reflect those values.

07:35 And the same should go for you. If someone were to come to you and interview with you, your company, they would want to look through your values and say, can you exit- give me an example of how you show one of these values.

07:46 In the spirit of that. Here are some, um, of our values at media books. Service-based leadership. Leaders are here to serve, not to be served.

07:57 One vision. We work towards the same goal. There is no such thing as not my job. Uh, accounting obsess. That is a commitment to the accounting industry and then energy with boundaries.

08:07 Leave your comfort zone, but never leave yourself. And so if you want to look through these, I can tell you.

08:13 Excuse me. Kind of in an example of like how I believe we are living these out. Umm, energy with boundaries.

08:20 I think that's probably the one that maybe is a little bit more confusing, but I have so many examples of this.

08:26 It is common in marketing right now as of me recording this to encourage people who are trying to market themselves online that they need to do short form video content.

08:35 And in a lot of ways, they're right. Yes, short form video content is doing extremely well right now. It is favored by a lot of platforms, but if you don't feel comfortable doing short form.

08:46 Video content. I don't want you to feel like that's what you have to do. There is a different between me maybe nudging you to be a little bit courageous and you feeling like you're doing something that is completely like not you and not aligned with your brand.

09:01 That's how it would express. Thanks for having us one of our values. And the same thing I would, uh, recommend to you is that these values should be unique and you should have examples of how you're living them out.

09:12 Another thing that I want to note with values is that these should not necessarily be things that are expected. So for example, if you If you own an accounting or bookkeeping firm, um, honesty is expected.

09:22 You expect people to be honest. That's not necessarily going to differentiate you from others. Um, it may be a personality trait, but if I were to see that, I'd be like, well, yeah, you should be honest.

09:32 I'm glad. Um. You know, I'm trying to think of another common one I hear. Um, honesty, integrity, um, trustworthiness, truthfulness.

09:44 Um, they're not really very, they don't tell me a lot about you. They're, those are expectations that you, You should have of your accountant.

09:52 And so really kind of have some fun with these really feel like you can get defined who you are as a business with these.

09:59 They don't have to be one word. And as you can see here, we have, you know, I have some where it's three words.

10:03 I would max it out at three and you don't want to have like a sentence. As your value. Uhm, but really kind of think about who you want to be in, you know, five, ten years where you still run your accounting firm.

10:15 What are your red lines in the sand? And. Lastly, I actually want to leave, uh, leave you with a quote from the director of global communications and public relations at Patagonia.

10:25 Um, and this is for all of you who are maybe thinking, ah, I'm too young to be doing, or my business is too young to be, um, having a vision mission value.

10:34 Many new brands come to us saying they're so inspired by Patagonia, and when they get to a certain size, they're going to do what we do.

10:41 I always suggest new brands start with brand purpose immediately and reference Yvonne, the founder of Patagonia, saying you have to start right from the beginning.

10:50 Have a good brand purpose or a North Star will have a significant effect on your employees as well, but it can't be top-down.

10:56 It has to come from all over the company and be in everything that you do. So, from top-down, or, sorry, not from top-down, from, from the beginning when you were established.

11:06 When you're your services, when you're putting together your website, when you're starting to build relationships with people, with vendors, with clients, you need to be thinking about these things, and really what it means for you as a business.

11:17 Um, you know, my business is five years old. It's not the- it's not the- the youngest, but it's not the oldest company in the world.

11:24 Um, and I can think of countless times where we have had to reflect on our values and- and stand by those, um, in cases with clients, partners, affiliates, employees, what have you.

11:36 Um, this is something that you should- really, it's not just necessarily marketing, yes, but it is also brand and sort of just good business building.