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Southwest Airlines - Purpose. Vision & The Southwest Way

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In this episode of Get the Balance Right podcast, we explore the topic of mission and values. We dive into the concept of building a brand based on your passion. Our guest is Lucy Johnson, the founder and CEO of SHiDO, a vegan digital, SEO marketing agency whose dedication is to make ethical businesses viable online. She is also an avid vegan blogger,  including one with her sister. Her company works exclusively with other vegan companies. Being true to her mission and values, she only hires employees who are vegan. 

In this episode we dive into the importance of creating your mission and values to build a brand. We discuss the “why” behind our shared vegan commitment. Lucy shares her experience as a digital nomad, SEO insider tips and trends in vegan marketing. 

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Take Control of Your Mission and Values Before Your Brand Becomes an Uncontrollable Monster

Mission and Values are the Glue

If you caught last week’s episode, I talked about my Get the Balance Right business framework. At the center of my framework is the heart of the organization where passion resides. I define the passion of the company to have three components, the value proposition, which we discussed last week, episode 34, the company’s products and services and the company’s promise, which are its mission and values.

I am here to tell you that the world needs to know your mission and values. As a business owner you should be shouting your mission and values from the rooftops. If you think creating your mission and values is a waste of time, I beg to differ. But I didn’t always feel that way. 

In business school, writing mission statements always seemed like a silly exercise.  It had that corny, cliché vibe as the thing tech companies painted on a giant, bright colored wall in their entranceway, in some fancy, script font. But regardless if this exercise feels trite and played out, the mission is actually one of the most important ideas a company should decide on. The mission, vision and values are the glue that holds your company together.

I started my business a little over a year ago and had no mission and my values were not solidified. I was taking all kinds of clients, anyone who would pay me. Because I didn’t have these things in place the only thing that could compete on was price. Nothing separated me from the competition. I was slashing prices to get the work. But once I let my mission and values come to the surface, the right people were starting to find my business and I started serving the folks I was meant to serve. Overtime, I have tweaked them, mainly because of what I’ve learned through doing this podcast and my journey over the last year. Now my values are proudly displayed on my website and every decision I make in my company and this podcast is based on them.

I want you to imagine traveling. Remember that? Going someplace exotic, exploring a new culture, eating delicious food, drinking out of a pineapple. Traveling can be so much fun, but the flying part can be such a drag. Why? Rude service, delays, extra fees for baggage, which used to be free, the list goes on.

 One of my favorite companies is Southwest Airlines. They are built on the importance of providing friendly, reliable and low-cost air travel. Yes, they are a low-cost provider, but it’s their dedication to making air travel hassle-free and enjoyable that keeps me coming back. As part of their values, they pride themselves on honesty, inclusiveness and be transparent. In addition, their values include not being a jerk, living by the golden rule and (the one that I love the best) not taking themselves too seriously.

Every time I’ve flown on Southwest Airlines, I am greeted with friendly smiles; the employees are happy and the plane has a fun atmosphere; especially when flying to Las Vegas. I would not say the same about Delta or American.

What is Your Why?

Thinking about your company, as the leader, can your clearly articulate your company’s mission? What about your values?

I don’t expect you to paint them on the wall, but are your mission and values understood by your employees?  If they’re just living in your head, you’re doing a disservice to your team. Keeping them a secret, won’t help move your company in the right direction, in fact it will only lead to wasted time and effort.

But even more importantly, keeping them shrouded in mystery only confuses your potential clients. If you don’t want to be the lowest cost provider then you need to make your mission and values clear so that the company understands how it should behave. Yes, your company is like a living creature, it has a personality and you as the owner need to define it, otherwise it will take on characteristics you never intended. Think Frankenstein’s monster.

Ask yourself this question…

• What is your WHY? Really get to the nitty gritty, the real why.

Once you know your WHY; be sure it really excites you. If not, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your business.

Let’s assume you know your WHY and it super excites you… Once you have those, now it should be public knowledge….

Keep asking yourself questions…

• Are you keeping your mission and values a secret?

• Are your mission and values clear?

• Do your employees understand your mission and values and do their actions reflect it?

• Does every decision you make as the company’s leader support your mission and embody your core values?

• Does the personality of your company exemplify the brand you worked to build or is it an unrecognizable, uncontrollable monster?

Here are my top eight reasons why your mission and values are important. Think about these in terms of your company.

1. Creating Identity

2. Attracting talent

3. Consistency in culture

4. Developing Purpose

5. Envisioning the future

6. Improve performance

7. Attracting the right stakeholder (employees and customers)

8. Clear Leadership

Without having a clear mission and values, customers aren’t able to identify your brand.

If you don’t have a clear mission and values, your company will end up going in directions you didn’t plan or taking on the wrong type of customers. Ultimately, not having clarity around your mission and values can cost you time and money. In other words, without clarity your stakeholders: employees and customers will be confused. Confused employees can’t be productive, they are set up for failure, confused buyers do not buy except when it’s the cheapest alternative

You could be missing out on finding the right customers. If you have a value that aligns with a potential customer, then you have a better chance getting and keeping that customer when your values align.

Customers are seeking out brands that align with their value system. If that’s not apparent, then these prospects may pass you by for someone else who makes their values and mission clear.

As my listener, I care about you. I made a free worksheet to help you create your mission and values on. If you haven’t written out or clearly defined your mission and values, please download the worksheet, fill it out and hang it some place where you will see it every day. Your success is important to me. I’d love to see your mission and values. Please send me a copy or take a photo and message me on Instagram.

If you need help creating your mission and values, I can help. Book a strategy session with me and we’ll get everything hammered out and clearly defined