Vision, Mission, Values:
The most underused growth lever in your firm

Every financial planning firm has a story to tell.

Most struggle to tell it clearly and fewer still use it as a tool to scale.

That’s what Vision, Mission and Values (VMV) are really for. Not as filler statements you think you should have in a brochure, but as a hard-edged framework to align your team, sharpen decision-making and build a culture that compounds over time.

When done well, VMV don’t just describe who you are. They create who you become.

Vision: The future you’re building towards

Vision is the destination. It’s the clearest possible picture of the future you want to build.

If you don’t know where you’re heading, it’s easy to get stuck firefighting in the day-to-day. Your team lose sight of what they’re doing this for and busyness takes priority over progress.

With a well-defined Vision everything changes. Recruitment conversations become sharper. Client messaging gets clearer. Decisions become easier to make because you know where you’re heading.

Example:

“To be the leading financial planning firm for business owners in the east-midlands, guiding 1,000 founders to financial freedom by 2030.”

Suddenly, strategy snaps into focus. Growth targets align. Marketing became more specific. Even the service proposition evolves because the team can see the future they’re working towards.

Mission: The part you’ll play

If Vision is where, Mission is how.

It’s the role your firm will play in making that future real, the unique contribution you’ll make.

A strong mission tells your team what to do to help make that vision a reality. It connects what they do at 3pm on a Tuesday with the bigger picture.

Example:

“We exist to help business owners turn their business into financial freedom. We do this by providing quality financial advice, on their terms.”

That’s not a slogan. It’s a filter. It guides product design, informs pricing, shapes who you hire and how you market. It becomes the heartbeat of everything you do.

Values: How you show up every day

Values turn abstract ideas into daily behaviours. They’re the operating system of your culture.

Too often they’re generic (“Integrity”, “Excellence”) or ignored entirely. Done right, they become a decision-making tool that shapes how people act even when no one’s watching.

Example:

• Accountability: “We own the outcome, one task at a time.”
• Clarity: “We simplify the complex so clients can make confident decisions.”
• Momentum: “Progress beats perfection. Always.”

These aren’t just words. They set expectations. They guide hiring and performance conversations. And, crucially, they give you a framework to reward and recognise behaviour that drives the business forward.

Want people to live the values? Tie bonuses, promotions and public recognition to them. When someone demonstrates “Momentum” by launching a new client initiative fast, shout about it. When a team member shows “Clarity” in a client presentation, reward it.

What gets rewarded gets repeated.

When VMV align, growth accelerates

When Vision, Mission and Values work together, they become your firm’s North Star and compass. They give direction to decisions, meaning to work and consistency to the client experience.

• Recruitment becomes easier because people know what they’re signing up for.
• Retention improves because people see purpose in their work.
• Decision-making speeds up because there’s a shared language for what matters.
• Growth accelerates because every part of the business is pulling in the same direction.

When they don’t, everything feels harder

Without clarity on who you are and where you’re going:

• Teams drift and deliver inconsistent results.
• Decisions become reactive, solving today’s problem instead of moving towards tomorrow’s vision.
• Culture fractures and high performers leave because they can’t see the bigger picture.

The bottom line

Vision, Mission and Values aren’t a branding exercise. They’re a performance tool.

They help you scale culture as you grow. They turn strategy into action. And they transform a group of individuals into a team pulling relentlessly towards the same future.

If you want your firm to grow with purpose, not just revenue, start here:

• Define where you’re going (Vision).
• Decide how you’ll get there (Mission).
• Design how people should behave along the way (Values).

Do that and you won’t just have a better story to tell. You’ll have a business that’s built to win.

If you want your firm to thrive long-term, getting clear on who you are, where you’re going and what matters most is one of the smartest moves you can make.

Meet the Author

Ben Wright