Introduction Mindfulness Vision and Mission
With this article we come to the end of the Mindfulness Organizations taste menu, and I would like to close the path by going back to the beginning (In fact, it is a circular and iterative path), because now surely it will be better understood how the purpose, vision and mission of a Mindfulness Organization is very different from one that is not.
In this journey that we have made together, we have talked about the importance of mindfulness leaders, how the culture of the organization can support this paradigm, as well as the impact on the way of working (Mindfulness Way of working) and the day to day of the teams (Mindfulness Teams).
During all this time we have repeatedly talked about the importance of being present and conscious, focused on people and their fullness, leaving away dehumanized and archaic paradigms to focus on purpose, on values, on making people grow as a basis of the organizational strategy.
Remember that we defined a Mindfulness Organization as an organization where the values are honesty, respect, transparency, trust, empathy, non-violence, generosity, curiosity and intelligence, which will take us automatically to an organization where creativity, focus, efficiency, reflection and continuous improvement / disruption prevail, while ensuring that each and every person in the organization feels heard, valued, respected, empowered and mindful.
If you are curious about trends, you will have seen that we have been where the term Customer Centric has become outdated and we are moving to one that is People Centric. This means that our focus must be on all the people who are part of our entire ecosystem, customers, employees, partners, etc. from a Mindfulness vision.
Let’s visually remember the 5 pillars of Mindfulness Organizations.
Be careful with visions that make us fall in love, because they must be inspiring but achievable.
Purpose
I already mentioned it in the Mindfulness Culture article, every organization is created to fulfill a purpose. It is their reason for existing, it is what inspires people to get up every day, it is their lighthouse, their north star.
When an organization is created, it is created with the purpose of serving (and I am not just talking about an NGO), not to make money, which is obviously necessary. But if the mindset we have is to see how I am going to get more money from a client, instead of thinking, how I can better serve them and solve their pains and needs, the approach is radically different.
Every time important decisions have to be made in an organization, the same question must always be asked. Is this decision aligned with the purpose? And if the answer is no, it should not be taken as beneficial as it is. Of course, you can create another company with another purpose to carry it out.
It is important to be consistent with the organization purpose, with the values, with the impact we want to generate in the world. If we lurch, at the end we will lose our direction and put the success and sustainability of the organization at risk.
When we talk about purpose, we talk about something inspirational, for example, Google purpose is “Organize the world’s information and make it useful and accessible to everyone”. In the case of Virgin Media, their purpose is to «Building connections that really matter.»
Jeff Dodds, COO of Virgin Media explains in an Oxford Leadership interview how the most important thing is to always work with purpose and even more in times of crisis.
Also Jess Lonsdale, Internal Communications Director at Virgin Media explains in another interview, How purpose drives performance.
The purpose is not anything exoteric, religious or happy flowers, it is just our lighthouse for not deviating from the direction and to align everyone in the organization. It is important that everyone in the organization knows and shares the purpose and that they feel that they are part of something much bigger than themselves and at the same time, they can help that purpose be fulfilled and feel proud of it.
Purpose builds cohesion, commitment, and motivation. Motivated people reduce their stress, increase their creativity and move mountains.
We all want to be proud of our work and of contributing to something greater than ourselves, it is not just a matter of earning a salary but of a greater sense of belonging.
And never forget that there is no better marketing for a company than the good opinions of employees and customers. And that the opposite situation can also be really dire.
Purpose builds cohesion, commitment, and motivation. Motivated people reduce their stress, increase their creativity and move mountains.
Mindfulness Vision
Once we have our purpose clear, we focus on the vision, that is, on how we imagine the world, our customers, employees, our products or services, society, etc. in the future. Typically, the vision is created by the leaders of the organization to inspire people and stakeholders.
For example, at Virgin media they define their vision as:
«Our vision is to use our know-how, our talented people and a little Virgin Media magic to prove that digital makes good things happen, for people, businesses and communities right across the UK and Ireland.»
Be careful with visions that make us fall in love, because they must be inspiring but achievable, we will always have to validate our vision before to put it on the market.
Mindfulness Mission
The mission already puts us on the path of action, it is the materialization of the vision, the roadmap to make the vision tangible in a period of time.
Mission statements are used to help define goals, pillars, promises that we use both to focus our teams and to communicate to the market. In the case of Virign Media, its mission is:
“We want to use the power of our brand, our people and our connectivity to create positive change in society. It’s our bold new sustainability plan with three big promises to go even further over the next five years and beyond. It’s about building connections that really matter for people, communities and the environment”.
It is defined for the next 5 years and focuses on 3 promises:
• «Better for people: We’re building a business where no one is left behind and all our people and customers feel they belong». Promise: Giving hundreds of people from underrepresented communities across the UK access to skills and employment at Virgin Media by end of 2025.
• «Better for communities: We’re bringing people and communities closer together, creating a sense of belonging and reducing loneliness as we go». Promise: Connect 1.5 million people to their communities and each other by end of 2025.
• «Better for the planet: We’re making a zero waste and zero carbon future happen faster». Promise: Achieve net zero carbon and zero waste operations by end of 2025.
Be careful with visions that make us fall in love, because they must be inspiring but achievable.
Strategy
Once we have worked on the most inspirational part, it is time to ideation, design, definition and execution. What products and / or services I am going to offer to fulfill my purpose / vision / mission, which clients / markets I am going to address, which will be my processes for manufacturing, distribution, sales, marketing, technology, sustainability, partnership, etc.
And above all, how am I going to bring the Mindfulness paradigm to all corners of my strategy, with focus on people, values, leadership styles, culture, teams, etc.
And what happens if I am not a new company and I want to reinvent it… what do I do? Well, easy, start «Your Journey of Transformation.» But that, my dears Mindfulners, will be for next articles.
I hope you have enjoyed this taste menu towards Mindfulness Organizations!