The core components of setting direction

Vision vs mission vs purpose vs ...

The heart of leadership is guiding people into a future they believe in.

To describe this high-level, directional function of leadership we use many interchangeable buzzwords: vision, mission, purpose, the why, North Star, commander's intent, strategy, BHAGs, roadmaps, etc.

Regardless of the labels, there are three components needed for your people to get on board with where you're pointing:

(1) **Where are we going? What does that future look like?**

(2) **How will we know when we're there?**

(3) **Why does that matter?**

I label these three components the vision, mission, and purpose. Visions show us the future we're pursuing. Missions are concrete and achievable, and indicate we're achieving the vision. Purpose tells us why this matters at all and expresses our overarching intention for the work.

Together, these three components are what actually create a tangible, felt sense of direction. They sit at the top of what I call the leadership stack, what Ravi Mehta calls the product strategy stack, and what Martin Eriksson calls the decision stack.

(NB: this is similar to the product strategy acid test I wrote about recently, but more zoomed-out.)