Episode Details

Scott Beebe, founder of My Business on Purpose, coaches leaders to make decisions from their vision, mission and values. He tells you why a vision story works better than a vision statement, and how to turn it into a school mission statement of fewer than 15 words.

Beebe makes the point by asking Jethro to describe Kodiak, Alaska, instead of just naming it. Jethro already does this when he hires: he sends interview candidates a letter with three priorities for his middle school, and several have called to ask for the job.

What you'll learn

• Write down where you want your school to be in three, five or ten years and share it with teachers and your PTA.
• Send candidates a letter that paints a picture of your school, so the wrong fit can opt out before you hire.
• Highlight key words in your vision story to build a word bank of 30 to 50 words, then distill a mission statement.
• Keep your mission statement under 15 words so staff can memorize it, and make it unique to your school.
• Ask what you want students to look like 28 years from now and what you want your family to look like in five to ten years.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Scott Beebe, business coach
• 2:59 Why pastors and principals lead alike
• 6:59 Why vision, mission and values matter
• 7:44 Vision story versus vision statement
• 13:31 Hiring with a vision story
• 17:08 Jeff Bezos's 1997 shareholder letter
• 19:22 Writing a mission statement from keywords
• 24:48 Questions to find what makes you unique

Times are for the episode without ads. Your player may be off by the length of any ads.

Questions this episode answers

What is the difference between a vision statement and a vision story?
Beebe says a vision statement only names the destination, like saying 'we're going to Kodiak.' A vision story adds the detail of what people will see and do there, so others can decide whether they want to go.

How long should a school mission statement be?
Beebe's rule of thumb is fewer than 15 words so it can be memorized. It should also be unique to your school, built from the key words in your vision story, and start with 'We exist to.'

How do you write a mission statement from a vision story?
Beebe has leaders highlight key words and action phrases in their vision story until they have 30 to 50. Write five or six sentences from those words, run them through a thesaurus, and distill them into one.

About Scott Beebe

Founder of My Business on Purpose, a business coach who teaches leaders mission, vision and values, and who also teaches families to create a family vision.

Links and resources

• My Business on Purpose
• Create a Family Vision
• Jeff Bezos 1997 shareholder letter
• Support the podcast on Patreon
• Transformative Principal on Apple Podcasts
• Rate on Stitcher
• Jethro Jones on Twitter
• Transformative Principal on Twitter
• Buy Communication Cards
• Transformative Principal show notes
• Paperless Principal book