Anchored in What?

Let’s revisit the old standards of core statements: Mission, Vision, and Values. Most simply, mission is what you do, vision is where you are headed, and values are the way in which you will pursue mission and vision. Values rarely get the attention mission and vision do.

Recently, my wife and I were hiking outside of Colorado Springs on a remote trail when we came across rock-climbing anchors mounted in the face of a small cliff (see picture). Seeing up close-up the security of the anchors in the rock, you’re confronted by how important they are to the whole enterprise of climbing. If all the anchors fail, there will be neither ascent nor summit, just failure with the possibility of tragedy. In rock-climbing, the mission is to climb the rock face. The vision is to reach the top. The values are the anchors. In organizations, the correspondence is the same.

The strain on many industries is likely to continue to increase over the coming months. Hardship will tempt leaders to stray from core values for what will seem (at the time) like good reasons. When this test comes, keep this visual in mind: Anchors slowly being backed out of the rock face. And then remember… No anchors, no ascent. No ascent, no summit. Translated: No values, no mission. No mission, no vision. Just failure.

This post originally appeared at LinkedIn.