On one of the first episodes of Why Gen Y Live, we discussed the concept of the BHAG. BHAG isn't some slur that you can hurl towards bag ladies, despite it sounding like just that - BHAG stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. From Wikipedia.com:
The term Big Hairy Audacious Goal ("BHAG") was proposed by James Collins and Jerry Porras in their 1996 article entitled Building Your Company's Vision. A BHAG encourages companies to define visionary goals that are more strategic and emotionally compelling.
In the article, the authors define a BHAG (pronounced BEE-hag) as a form of vision statement "...an audacious 10-to-30-year goal to progress towards an envisioned future."
At some point in a high school business class, I was charged with creating a mission statement for a company that I created. It was for class, and I remember it being a somewhat painful task: my company was fake and sold chairs, or something equally as random.
However, I realized, even then, that the act of just articulating what my fake company was about, what it stood for, and its mission, helped me when making decisions about my fake company. Should I try to corner a specific section of the market? Well, what does my mission statement say about growth?
Having a mission statement or a BHAG can guide you when making decisions, and also let your customers know what drives you and makes you tick. One of my favorite things to see on the rare occasion I go to a branch is a sign stating their mission statement and principles. It can even help to guide specific goals, whether it be an Online Marketing BHAG or a Community Involvement BHAG.
What's your credit union's mission statement or BHAG? I'd love to see the tenets and principles that are driving your current campaigns and promotions!
Leave em in the comment section, yo :)
DeAndre