Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture

Chapter 17. A Unifying Vision

When Nancy looked at the organizational chart, she felt a whole lot better about the future of Soup, Inc. She had assembled a team that was more energetic, more optimistic, and harder working than the previous team. No one creates success alone, and it would take this kind of team to accomplish what the naysayers said was impossible. She knew that great leaders build great teams, and she believed that the organization was finally on the right track. Yet she also knew it wasn't enough just to assemble optimistic people. You also had to give them something to be optimistic about. She had to create a positive vision for the future of Soup, Inc. She had to give her leaders and employees something meaningful and valuable to strive toward. It wasn't enough to tell them they were working to save the company. They needed to believe in something bigger than themselves—and she needed something to believe in, too.

She had Brenda do some research to identify the current mission statement of the company, because no one seemed to know it or remember it, and when Brenda found it in a file folder it was clear why. The mission statement took up an entire page and was filled with jargon and buzzwords that meant nothing to the people who read it. Not only was it too long to remember, but you wouldn't want to bother even if you could. Nancy threw the paper in the trash and knew they needed to start over. She wasn't looking for War and Peace. She wanted a unifying vision ...