The vision and mission concepts might be considered as business-oriented terms. However, the meaning of these terms is not unique for the business world. It is possible to talk about various benefits of having a vision statement for personal life.
There are various studies in the business world about having a vision and a mission statement. For example, it has been shown that companies that managed to create value perception about vision and mission statements are more successful and have a higher brand image.
So, what do we mean by saying this person is a visionary or this company has a mission? What does vision mean, what does mission mean and what are the differences between vision and mission are explained in our article.
What does vision statement mean? What is the vision?
Vision is an appearance. An appearance that belongs to the future. It expresses the future values of a company to the target audience of that company. In this sense, vision is a projection of the future. A company or a person who can imagine can see the future and paint the picture of the future. But the vision does not mean dreams. Having only dreams about future dream does not make a person or a company a visionary or a person with a vision. The main difference between the dream and the vision is that vision emerges with a realistic perspective and value changes are estimated with basic competencies or created by considering existing realities. There might not be limits in dreams and some cases, it is possible to talk about a dream beyond our existing capabilities.
Vision is about the position and brand image you want to have. Accordingly, it is based on the main skills and competencies of the firm. This main skillset might include the chin of values that extend to tomorrow. Vision is important to provide information to employees, existing customers and leads about the firm’s value. A firm with a vision acts according to this future perspective and plans when it reveals its strategic plan. This adds continuous development and change to the firm’s activities.
Vision statement examples
We can get a better idea about the vision when we briefly view some of the vision principles of some leading brands. For example, the vision of Turkcell, one of the largest operators in Turkey, is clear, simple and memorable as it states “to be the best GSM carrier in Turkey”. This expression isn’t too glamorous or grandiose so that it can be understood by everyone. Also, the message says that their main target and only job is to be an GSM operator.
Ülker expresses its vision value as being among the top 5 countries in the global food market. Opet’s vision is to be the #1 brand in the Turkish fuel sector. Sabancı Holding chooses to highlight the innovative side by accepting giving superiority to differences as its vision principle.
What is the mission? What does mission mean?
Different from the vision, mission answers the why and how questions rather than to which way question. This is the identity of values that summarized why a firm or a company is established, which values it follows and who and how it serves.
The mission statement signals how it is possible to reach the values accepted in the vision. This is a sort of combination of values that show how the firm is operating.
The mission is more valuable than vision. Because a firm without a mission cannot have its vision values or reach these values. Someone who does not know why he started a journey and how he will stay on the road cannot be a visionary person. From this perspective, the mission is the main thing.
What are mission statement examples?
When we look at the mission statements of the firms, it is possible to learn about why they were established and how they operate. In this sense, when we read Ülker’s mission statement, we can understand that it was established because of the children and to give them a better life. The mission principles by Opet are about respect for the employees and environment. Sabancı Holding’s mission is to manage the affiliates with a competitive and sustainable growth and to create value for the stakeholders.
What are the differences between vision and mission?
Vision and mission terms are often confused. Some firms hurry up when they write their vision and mission and publish a mission or vision statement that does not match their values. Additionally, it is clear that firms that write vision and mission statements without thinking mix up these two terms. This is unacceptable in terms of brand image and professional look. Knowing the differences between these two terms is important to understand how to approach these terms.
Mission reveals your reasons. It talks about the current situation. It reveals how you do your job. Vision, on the other hand, does not answer to any of these. It only reflects the perspective of the future and scatters light. It is all about future dreams. The mission is a tool selected to achieve that future. Vision is the stop. The mission is your best work you do all the time and the values you nourish. Vision is the point we reach if we protect and sustain our mission values. While the mission notifies us about today, the vision shares a value about what will happen tomorrow. In this sense, the mission is slightly more important than the vision. The vision values of a firm without a well-defined or unclear mission do not have any importance. The mission is the method to evaluate a situation. Vision is the result of evaluating the future.
As a result, vision and mission statements are a set of values each firm and even each individual should have. A firm or an individual who does not know or set the values in life can not manage to achieve their goals. A life to save the day is built far away from the goals and dreams.