Statements do not make vision a reality. People do. It is through the sharing of one's mission statement and vision statement that empowers and builds a common bond or caring. It is true for an individual, family, workplace or business.

There are those we revere for their willingness to share and empower their vision. John F. Kennedy envisioned "By the end of the decade, America will have a man on the moon". It was not long before that thought was actualized. Martin Luther King's famous vision "I have a dream" is alive and well long after his passing.

And Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer still believes and shares his greatest business vision in his statement to "Start a revolution in the way the average person processes information." The common, unifying action taken by each of these leaders was to share and build a common caring through their vision.

When a member of a family run business viewed the challenges of creating a mission statement and then a vision statement, Rod Houck cited "There was a lot of internal dissension and disagreement about how to structure things."

Writing the statements took sharing, commitment and the need to develop from those statements strategic goals and objectives required to carry out the vision. Houck said the process "gave us a sense of accomplishment. We concentrated our effort to reach the goals. If we wanted to do new things, we would check - does it match our vision?" The benefit from sharing and working towards their mission and vision statements became obvious. "By focusing, sharing and getting buy-in from all the owners, we could move forward and make more money."

Why does sharing or seeking input from others within the business, workplace or family have value? When others are involved with you, differences in experience, judgment, values and similar such areas create conflicting ideas about the future and interpretations of what it should be. This is a key reason to establish a shared vision whenever there are multiple owners or leaders.

All co-workers need to realize the benefits of working in a business that integrates daily activities with the long-term success sought by your vision. And most importantly, everyone who is going to have to live with the statement will be more invested if given a chance to provide input and be a part of the sharing.

To see case studies and learn more on the importance of mission statements and vision statements and how to best use them, go to .