Janet Schieferdecker

The Difference Between Vision and Mission

janet — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:38:30 +0000

I am frequently asked the question “What is the difference between Mission and Vision?”

In a nutshell: a business Vision Statement describes WHERE you are going;

- while the Mission Statement tells WHY.

The Vision Statement is about how you’ll know when you are THERE. As in “we are taking the business to new heights”. OK, where exactly are those new heights and what does that mean? Some business experts advocate that an effective Vision Statement answers the question: “What Business Are You In?” I would like to add that it should be exciting and inspiring. When you write a Vision Statement that works, you know it instantly. It sends a clear message to the universe of exactly what you would like to achieve, and you are able to look at it and think “now that’s a worthy challenge, yes, I/we want to do that.”
In my first business, I didn’t have a plan or write out a vision, I just wanted to set up a successful practice and I couldn’t understand why I seemed to be locked into one operating level . This time I vowed it would be different. So I sat down and thought through how I wanted to live, how big the business would have to be to support that, and as I planned and visualized, I realized that this was big, a whole new level, and that there were many reasons that went far, far beyond self interest why I should do it. When I’m feeling lethargic or low for some reason, thinking about my vision helps me refocus my energies and get back into motion. If your Vision Statement is very wordy, or has become part of the furniture, it’s time to re-energize it. The annual “Envision” event and my “Roadmap to Success” product operate on the principle that the Vision and the rest of the plan need to be worked and re-worked regularly, and that doing this in community with others is exceptionally powerful.

While this article would be too long if I included the exercises and questions to help guide you towards articulating a Vision Statement, one tip I would like to include here is the use of Vision Boards or some kind of visual representation (3-D model, story board, photoshopped future picture…). Include your team while you are creating this graphic. You might try employing the services of a graphic recorder/facilitator. When a vision is shared by many people and they are all holding clear images of their roles and perhaps how things might be different, real magic starts to happen.

The Mission Statement communicates to your stakeholders (employees, partners, shareholders, customers, raving fans . . .) WHY you are going THERE. It helps people who may (or may not) wish to join you in achieving your Vision, decide if their values are in alignment. When a potential partner of mine read my Mission statement and realized what I was all about, she realized she wasn’t interested in joining the business, it just wasn’t close enough to her personal sense of purpose. It was disappointing, but much better to know before we made any contractual arrangements.

Most of us address the question “What is my purpose?” at some time in our lives. Aligning your company with your personal sense of purpose and communicating that alignment, respects everyone’s sense of purpose. A well written Mission Statement is something that speaks to people, customers included, of who you really are. It can provide a sense of meaning for you and others if the going gets rough.

Sitting down to write a Mission Statement, or communicating one out loud for the first time, can be anxiety producing for people. In our society it is still a bit unconventional, even for personal growth workshop junkies like myself, to say these things out loud. My Transition Management program helps people access information they may be holding at an “other than conscious” level, while the support and witnessing of the group makes it possible to create a meaningful sense of what really matters.

Needs vs. Wants

janet — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:18:19 +0000

March 17, 2010

I had an interesting experience with a prospective client the other day. She very clearly and congruently dismissed an entire career path with the words “Well, I can’t do that because I need 8 hours of sleep a night and about 5 hours in the morning, at home, to do my waking up and morning rituals.”

In a momentary flash I noticed that there were Protestant Work Ethic parts of me that were not comfortable with this, and there were all the parts of me that are geared up to reframe and expand my clients’ worlds that were jumping up and down with something to say…and I also had to confess that the two were a bit tangled up in a way that was not useful to my client. On her map this was just a fact, something about herself that she was comfortable with, and that was part of her centered and present state. It was in no way shape or form coded as a problem or a limitation, it was who she was and who she wanted to be.

I am very fortunate to have had the kind of training that allowed me notice myself, my own beliefs and judgements, only very briefly, and then to immediately let that go, to enter into her world and to stand on her map in a useful way for the duration of the call. But after hanging up, I took a few minutes to engage with the question:

“What do you need?” and the corollary “How would you know when your needs are being met?”

The usual question that starts a Changework session (stated verbally or implicitly present in the practitioner’s mind) is: “What would you like?” For me, on my map of reality, this is a very different question than “What do you need?” because it presupposes that the results are being perceived as optional. When I engage with the question “What do you need?” results have to do with survival, so I engage with parts of me that can solve problems in a clear and strong way; parts that are very decisive and know how to get things done…even if the cost is something I think I’d prefer.

When I look at business models that I have tried out in the past and not succeeded very well with, I can see that many of my needs were being treated as optional. For example, recreation time is really not optional it is a human need…if we don’t give it to ourselves, our system will take it (and sometimes at really inconvenient times, like falling asleep at an important meeting).

So try this, what do you really need to be at your best? Now look at some of the decisions you have on your plate and see if your needs can even be met if you go down that path. You may have some re-deciding to do.

Dare to Be a Leader

janet — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:58:14 +0000

March 11, 2010

What is leadership? There are a lot of fancy courses and books and names of different types of leadership…some of this is excellent and thought provoking and some of it is utter nonsense. I think before we even begin to think about leadership in a more broad and general sense, before we begin thinking about leading others, we need to be able to take the lead in directing our own lives.

One of the first places where we can take the lead, are situations where we genuinely need help. The only person who can identify a situation where you feel stuck or trapped in an old pattern, is you. The only person who can know what you would like, really, is you. The only person who can know the difference when something is a simple “environmental level” change involving nothing more than the identification of the best solution, medication, program, or hire, or when this is a core “identity level” change involving belief restructuring and life alteration and you need the help of a change agent (person or sometimes event).

So how do we take charge of our lives?

The first step is to identify what you need, even when parts of you don’t want you to have that. For example if you need rest, but parts of you think you better work harder, it’s time to spend a little time working out what’s best for the system, so that all parts of you are honored.

Taking charge sometimes means asking for guidance. Taking charge sometimes means asking for help. Taking charge begins by asking the question:

“What would you like?”

Motivate Me

janet — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:00:35 +0000

March 4, 2010

I have been feeling particularly de-motivated about exercising for quite some time. The funny thing is that I used to really like to exercise. I have these exercise videos/dvds which are a bit boring, but nothing onerous, and given my schedule and preferences would be an ideal way for me to work out. Lately, I just have not been doing them…I have also tried many other places and types of exercise but have not seemed to get going for far too long of a time.The other day I managed to get myself in front of the video and caught myself in a really negative groove. First of all my mind was telling myself how much I didn’t want to do this, but that if I just crunched my spirit down, it would be over soon. Then my mind spent time inwardly criticizing the relentless perkiness of the instructor. Most of the time of the actual exercise was spent wishing it would be over and trying to picture myself as fit again, which just highlighted the gap between now and my former athleticism and made me feel bad.

Well, if that’s a sample of what my mind has been doing all this time no wonder I haven’t been exercising!

Having noticed this, I decided that the next day I would try something different. During the next 24 hours, if I caught myself thinking about exercise, I told myself how much I was looking forward to it and used my NLP skills to create an association between an anticipatory state and the exercise time. Then while I was exercising I forced myself to smile and instead of criticizing the instructor tried to be just as perky as she is, and ended up cracking myself up – thus pairing exercise with laughter! If I found my mind drifting to a future athleticism which was paired with all the times I’d failed to get back in shape, I tried focusing instead on how good it felt to move my muscles right now. Just gently bringing my thoughts back to enjoyment of the present.

Well after doing this for just a few days I can’t wait to exercise. Really.

What makes one person, given the same set of circumstances or hearing the same information, react in a productive way while another person (or the same person at a different time) spins into a negative counter-productive spiral?

The answer seems to lie within. Our brains create associations with words and with feelings and with states that can spark off a chain reaction. One “negative” (currently undesired) thought produces body chemistry that we may have associated with more “negative” thoughts. We create meaning from this chain reaction, and that meaning can be dependent on past decisions and experiences. What may have been life saving for a child, may be irrelevant or not so useful for an adult.

When we are feeling de-motivated it’s useful to create new associations and this can be done through changework sessions which explore and reframe deep patterning creating new meanings and new paired states. Or sometimes, as in my exercise example, simple, conscious mindfulness of being present with our bodies can change our body chemistry and therefore our mindset. Which method to chose really depends on the situation, the availability of resources, and whether it’s a simple environmental change that’s needed or whether it’s leading to a major identity change.