How Do You Stay True to a Mission During Times of Rapid Growth?
In the face of rapid growth or change, staying mission-aligned can be a challenge for any organization. We've gathered insights from five executive leaders, including CEOs and COOs, on maintaining this crucial alignment. From using your brand as a guiding north star to involving stakeholders in mission discussions, these top executives share their strategies for keeping true to the organization's core mission.
- Brand as Your Guiding North Star
- Anchor Decisions to Core Mission
- Consistent Communication of Core Values
- Focus on Achieving Milestones with Integrity
- Involve Stakeholders in Mission Discussions
Brand as Your Guiding North Star
Much of that comes down to the identity of the business—your brand is a North Star.
Your brand is a belief, expressed as a promise to your customers and team.
Tesla = To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.
If... your brand, inclusive of your mission and values, is real and aligned throughout the organization, it won't be hard to keep your focus and stay true to your mission as growth creates opportunities and distractions.
As Tesla grows, it will never depart from its sustainable energy calling. That calling is too elemental to its mission, its team, and its customers.
On the other hand, if your company is simply perceived as a tool or feature set, it will be quite easy to chase the next shiny idea for the sake of growth. There will be no North Star to align the leadership team, the company's values, and its promise. Decisions will lack direction because they lack a foundational root or guardrails.
Brand creates guardrails.
Determine what you believe and why it matters, and all decisions become clearer, regardless of growth.
Anchor Decisions to Core Mission
In times of significant expansion or change, it's crucial to anchor every decision to the mission that defines your organization. For Daher Media, this means consistently aligning our growth strategies with our commitment to authentic storytelling and strategic communication. We embed our mission in our company culture, ensuring that each team member, regardless of their role, understands and shares in this vision. This unified approach helps us navigate growth without losing sight of our foundational principles. Regular reflection and open dialogue about our mission keep it central to our operations, enabling us to scale our impact while staying true to our core values.
Consistent Communication of Core Values
As the CEO of Startup House, I make sure to keep our mission at the forefront by constantly communicating it to our team. I believe that by consistently reminding everyone of our core values and goals, we can navigate through any growth or change while staying true to our purpose. I also encourage open communication and feedback from employees to ensure that we are all aligned and moving in the same direction. Ultimately, staying true to our mission is about staying connected and committed to our purpose, no matter how fast we are growing or changing.
Focus on Achieving Milestones with Integrity
I have found that the best way to stay true to your organization's mission is to focus not just on the milestones you have achieved, but on how you managed to achieve them. At Rate Retriever, one of our core missions is to protect user privacy and not collect any unnecessary contact information so that consumers never have to worry about spam. We have seen significant growth because of our commitment to this promise, and while it could be easy to get caught up in success and feel tempted to change this policy so that we can maintain communication with our users, we would not be staying true to our mission if we did so. If we did elect to start collecting contact info, we would likely lose users as a result because they would no longer find us worthy of their trust. The key is really in staying grounded and remembering that your core mission is in part what led to the growth your company is seeing now.
Involve Stakeholders in Mission Discussions
Ensuring that an organization stays true to its mission during times of rapid growth or change requires intentional leadership, clear communication, and alignment of actions with core values.
Involve stakeholders at all levels of the organization in discussions about the mission and its relevance to ongoing initiatives and changes. Seek input and feedback from employees, customers, and other stakeholders to ensure that their perspectives are considered in decision-making processes.
