Mission and vision are not the same thing.

A mission is what you do. Every organization needs to know this. Think mission in the military sense. “Your mission is to defend this position.” Here’s Wal-Mart’s: “To help people save money so they can live better.”

A vision is different. It’s about who you want to become and where you want to be at a time in the future. Wal-Mart’s vision at one time was “To be the worldwide leader in retailing.” Notice the difference between mission and vision.

Clarifying and communicating both mission and vision are key tasks for leaders.

If you know your mission but your vision is unclear, try these questions. I asked them yesterday at a church leadership meeting and I think they helped bring our vision into focus.

1. What is our mission in a nutshell?
2. What kind of organization must we be to be great at that mission?
3. If we become that kind of organization and do a great job on our mission, where could we be in 5 (or 25) years?