242 ◾ The Guide to Entrepreneurship: How to Create Wealth for Your Company
12.3 Core Values and Core Purpose
“To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business,
and your business in your heart.” —Thomas Watson, Sr., IBM
Core values are the set of unchanging principles that dene your organiza-
tion. For example, “I believe that our reputation for integrity and honorable
dealings is our most important asset. Your GE team believes that strong
integrity is the foundation of great performance. I hold myself to a high stan-
dard, and I know you will do the same.” Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman & CEO,
General Electric.
The core purpose is your reason for existing, reecting your idealistic
motivation, and capturing the soul of your creation. Your core competencies
are those things your company can do better than anyone else. For example:
◾ Nike’s core purpose is to experience the emotion of competition, win-
ning, and crushing competitors.
◾ 3M’s core purpose is to solve unsolved problems innovatively.
◾ Walt Disney’s core purpose is to make people happy.
◾ Apple’s core competency is disruptive innovations.
◾ Charles Schwab’s core competency is lightning fast, cost-effective trades.
◾ Aspen Dental’s core competency is your mouth is our business.
Table12.1 summarizes the two core principles you should inculcate in
your organization, while is it still in the formative stages.
12.4 Mission, Vision
“You must sell yourself before you sell your company.”
A mission is a compelling, daring, and achievable goal. Like any goal, a
mission must be nite, measurable, and practical. Once achieved, a new
mission must be set and articulated.
A vision statement is very broad and forward-looking and should be
inspiring to employees as well as all other stakeholders. The vision statement
clearly states what the company is all about and explains direction and pur-
pose. As opposed to mission statements, vision statements unite the entire
staff toward the pursuit of one common goal and are permanent.