Message, meet Mission
This week I've been wrestling with crafting some messaging for a professional organization. It's been a challenge.
Peeling behind all the prior and current messaging, I noticed that there was a lack of a clearly articulated - and compelling - mission.
Specifically, what was needed was a business value mission. What could this organization provide that fed into higher-level goals for its member companies? Something that everyone from the C-Suite, down to a new hire in a member company, would immediately "get."
That's when it's important to step back and ask some fundamental questions that go much deeper than a tagline. Such as:
1. Why does this (company/organization) exist - what business-impacting purpose is it serving (that no other group can do)?
2. What big-picture goal is being more effectively met by this (organization/company/offering)?
3. How can I express the business value of the offering (in one sentence) to an executive whose main concern is with dollars and cents?
4. Who would look good - and why - by investing in this offering?
Here's the case study - this blog post explains the challenge, which regards the perceived lack of value of the Training and Development department in biopharma companies (this is from my Impactiviti pharma blog).
People are moved, I think, by a message that is tied to a higher-level mission. We invest more readily in a cause that matters to us. Do you have one? Hit reply and tell me about it - I'll share mine if you'll share yours! :>}
Clearly yours,
Steve Woodruff
P.S. As you know, I despise biz-jargon. So does Scott Adams (Dilbert)!
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This week I've been wrestling with crafting some messaging for a professional organization. It's been a challenge.
Peeling behind all the prior and current messaging, I noticed that there was a lack of a clearly articulated - and compelling - mission.
Specifically, what was needed was a business value mission. What could this organization provide that fed into higher-level goals for its member companies? Something that everyone from the C-Suite, down to a new hire in a member company, would immediately "get."
That's when it's important to step back and ask some fundamental questions that go much deeper than a tagline. Such as:
1. Why does this (company/organization) exist - what business-impacting purpose is it serving (that no other group can do)?
2. What big-picture goal is being more effectively met by this (organization/company/offering)?
3. How can I express the business value of the offering (in one sentence) to an executive whose main concern is with dollars and cents?
4. Who would look good - and why - by investing in this offering?
Here's the case study - this blog post explains the challenge, which regards the perceived lack of value of the Training and Development department in biopharma companies (this is from my Impactiviti pharma blog).
People are moved, I think, by a message that is tied to a higher-level mission. We invest more readily in a cause that matters to us. Do you have one? Hit reply and tell me about it - I'll share mine if you'll share yours! :>}
Clearly yours,
Steve Woodruff
P.S. As you know, I despise biz-jargon. So does Scott Adams (Dilbert)!
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