Take a moment and think about your work, your business, your team, etc. – in terms of a ship, and all the things that go into making a ship seaworthy and sound.
A functional and sound ship has a good hull and rudder, it has a functional and clean deck, it has strong masts, and it has well-made sails that will allow the wind to push it forward.
What all these things do, and what all these things have in common is that they only function well 1) together and 2) with the addition of a propulsion system.
When you think about your business, your mission and vision are your masts, sails, and rudder, your goals, strategic plans, and initiatives the hull, deck, and crew.
All these things are important.
They guide your decision-making, allow you to categorize and attack strategic goals intentionally, and clearly communicate internally and externally what you value as a business.
A belief statement goes farther than that.
A belief statement, in this analogy, is the wind in our sails. It’s what gets us up in the morning.
A belief statement allows your people to adhere to and align something that goes beyond “the work”.
We firmly believe and have seen proven true time and time again – that a belief system and statement is as fundamental to (if not more so) a business than mission, vision, values.
Some of the most successful teams and businesses thrive due to a strong belief statement and system. Something that communicates who they are and what they believe to be true about the world that then informs what they do.
A vision is your direction, where you see yourself going, and what you’ll do to get there.
A mission is your directives, clear, actionable things that you are doing in order to achieve or arrive at your vision.
Your values should be the characteristics, qualities, and traits that you value the most, both from your people internally and from the people you seek and serve externally.
Your belief, however, is something that inspires and guides all of the above. Take our beliefs, mission, vision, and values for example below.
At Think 3D Solutions, we BELIEVE, that we can better the world by improving how people live, by improving the way people work. We BELIEVE that there is a better way.
Our vision is to redefine the expectations and definitions of community and workplace culture. Our mission is simple, we exist to add value through creating and sustaining intentional cultures and developing solutions, for people.
Our vision and mission are based on the philosophy and belief that a healthy culture has three dimensions, personal, professional, and potential.
In order to build a healthy and three-dimensional culture, our method involves addressing four primary pillars: culture, self, skills, and accountability.
We demonstrate our values through behaviors, which is why we have what we call the Think 3D Way.
- Do what works, not what sells.
- Do not do it for the money, do it for what the money does.
- Have a standard…and stick to it.
- Communication is required.
- Figure it out.
- Be someone people want to go through something with.
- A better you, is better for everyone.
By having a structured set of valued behaviors and traits, we give ourselves and our teammates clear, learnable, achievable, and valuable behaviors to align with.
Additionally, we are able to speak to our core values of, effectiveness, clarity, integrity, kindness, and curiosity through these statements.
These “ways”, along with our belief, mission, and vision statements are what influence the core of our business and all decision-making for our team.
When your organization has an aligned system of belief, you give your people something to cling to beyond the next strategic goal, or KPI.
At our core, people need to belong to something, whether that’s a group, an identity or an ideology.
When businesses prioritize building and connecting to their employees as people, they see a level of commitment and engagement that drives business success and improves people metrics across the board.
Be authentic, be passionate and be bold about declaring what you believe in.