What the hell happened to me? I used to own the Top 40. I knew all the song titles, lyrics, artists, albums, everything back in the 80s and 90s. When we were determining songs for our 1990 lip sync contest as part of CU Times' 25th anniversary, choosing was difficult because we knew and loved all of them. Thing is, very few of the artists are still performing or even well known today. Who remembers Wilson Phillips or Taylor Dane?
I recognized maybe a handful of the artists' names on the current top 40. Why? Because in life as in business, we decide what's important and what's no longer as important. I decided I wasn't going to listen to and relentlessly memorize the latest music any more. My vision for what was important changed, including growing a family and a career, and toning down my obsession with new music.
As budget season is upon businesses everywhere, we must decide not only what to add, but also what to eliminate. Now is a good time to revisit your credit union's vision statement, and whether it remains relevant and is supported by your strategy and budget. If you haven't created a vision statement, it's a very good idea to consider as a way to clearly and succinctly state where the organization is heading for members and employees, and inspire the team to all push in the same direction.
Here are some good examples from posts at Top Nonprofits and Business News Daily:
Nike: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
Amazon: To be earth's most customer-centric company where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online … at the lowest possible prices.
Habitat for Humanity: A world where everyone has a decent place to live.
San Diego Zoo: To become a world leader at connecting people to wildlife and conservation.
The best vision statements are concise. According to Top Nonprofits, the average length of the ones the group included in its list of the best was around 14 words. A simple worksheet on creating mission and vision statements is available on TopNonprofits.com. These organizations are leading in their fields, too. Nike or Amazon are great companies for a resume to help boost credibility because everyone knows them. Nike innovates with running shoes that connect to your phone to keep track of stats and motivate. Amazon is putting other retailers to shame. Habitat for Humanity brings people (and many credit unions) together to improve living conditions, moving toward its vision. The San Diego Zoo is world renowned, and not simply as a neat place to bring the kids to during break.
Each of these organizations is clearly following an aspirational vision with a practical mission statement regarding what the organization is going to do to work toward its goal. For example:
Habitat for Humanity: Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.
San Diego Zoo: A conservation, education, and recreation organization dedicated to the reproduction, protection, and exhibition of animals, plants, and their habitats.
I know everyone is sick of hearing how wonderful a business Apple is, but it was saved from extinction when it turned its vision and mission toward innovation. It did not invent music storage, the Internet or payment systems, but its strategy became to address the problem of allowing consumers to download music legitimately so artists could get paid. Its success with the iPod, and subsequently iPhone and iPad, comes directly from its vision statement: Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
Credit unions must ask what they need to move toward and what they need to move away from. Articulating a clear vision is essential to determining what your organization will or won't do. Wilson Phillips' sweetly harmonized to "hold on for one more day," which seemed to become the 90s musical group's mantra. Set a vision for your organization so it can be the next Madonna, who has deftly changed with her fans' demands. Members and employees will be "True Blue."
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