mission and values

A strong mission statement does more than explain what a company does. It creates alignment, clarity, and momentum. I help organizations uncover and articulate the purpose, values, and behaviors that fuel healthy growth, strengthen culture, and drive organizational performance. Whether your organization is building its foundation from scratch or refreshing outdated messaging, I guide teams through a collaborative process to develop mission statements and values that feel authentic, actionable, and inspiring.

Below is a case study highlighting how I partnered with a video production agency in Raleigh to develop a new mission statement and set of company values that better reflected their culture, vision, and long-term goals.

UPDATING company values

PROJECT SPECIFICS

Company values influence decision-making, accountability, hiring, communication, and long-term growth. Strong organizational values help employees understand not only what the company stands for, but also the behaviors and mindsets needed to contribute to the team’s success.

For this project, I led a small working group to refresh Myriad Media’s existing set of nine company values, which had originally been created seven years earlier. Alongside the messaging update, I partnered with a designer to develop a new visual identity and icon system for the refreshed values.

Our goal was to create a clear, unified framework that reflected the agency’s evolving culture and supported the type of growth and change the organization wanted to pursue. Throughout the process, employees and creative partners were invited to provide feedback at multiple stages to ensure the final result reflected perspectives from across the agency and fostered strong company-wide buy-in.

Designer: Brittain Peck

Designer: Brittain Peck

PROCESS

This work was rooted in organizational culture strategy and informed heavily by the Competing Values Framework methodology. As a team, we explored questions such as:

  • What makes the company unique?

  • What has contributed most to the company’s success?

  • What attitudes and behaviors lead to exceptional work?

  • What will the future of the agency require?

  • What standards should employees hold one another accountable to?

To gather meaningful insight, we combined collaborative discussion with qualitative and quantitative research, including:

  • Two company-wide employee surveys

  • Analysis of internal communication channels, including Slack and email

  • Review of the agency’s five-year strategic plan

  • Individual feedback sessions with interested employees

RESULTS

The final result was a simplified and more actionable set of six core values, reduced from the original nine to improve clarity and memorability. We intentionally retained the company’s first value to preserve continuity with the organization’s history and identity.

Each value was paired with a concise behavioral description (and later, a core competency) to help employees understand how the values could be demonstrated in day-to-day work. The launch of the updated “Myriad Way” received strong support across the organization and created a shared sense of ownership because employees had actively contributed throughout the process.

Since implementation, the updated values have influenced:

  • Annual company objectives

  • Employer branding and recruitment

  • Hiring and onboarding practices

  • Performance development conversations

  • Job design and team structure

  • Marketing and sales strategy

  • Client relationship management

Writing a mission statement

PROJECT SPECIFICS

Following the values refresh, I partnered with a small internal team to develop a mission statement for the company. The organization had experienced significant growth, operational change, and expansion into multiple business pursuits, which had created ambiguity around the company’s identity and direction.

The goal of this project was to create a clear and compelling statement that could unify employees around a shared purpose and guide future decision-making.

While mission statements are often short, developing one that feels authentic and meaningful requires significant reflection, alignment, and collaboration.

PROCESS

The process included:

  • Analysis of company branding, strategy, communication channels, and organizational values

  • One-on-one interviews with every employee

  • Company-wide surveys

  • Collaborative brainstorming and writing workshops

  • Honest and challenging conversations about the future of the company

RESULTS

The final mission statement became:

MAKE VIDEO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The launch of the new mission statement generated immediate excitement and alignment across the organization. Employees expressed that it gave them something tangible to believe in and rally around during a season of change and growth.

More importantly, the statement created clarity. It helped employees better understand the company’s purpose, the impact of their work, and how their individual contributions connected to broader organizational goals.

Since its launch, the mission statement has continued to shape long-term strategic planning, annual goal setting, and company-wide decision-making. It remains a consistent point of reference that helps ensure teams are moving forward together with shared direction and purpose.