Lily Tomlin, the comedienne, once said, "I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." Her statement speaks to the importance of having clarity when defining oneself. But, her idea supersedes individuals and can also be applied organizationally. Clarity in business matters depends upon organizational leaders asking themselves tough questions: How is our success measured? What makes our work meaningful? Are we just working hard or are we working smart? These questions are directly correlated to how well clarity is achieved in three areas: mission, direction, and measurement.

There is a fundamental importance in knowing what one's mission is and staying true to it. Mission creep and allowing oneself to be distracted from the mission is one of the primary reasons that organizations fail to achieve their goals. Inevitably as new trends emerge, economies shift, and conditions change, an organization must reexamine itself to ensure that the mission is being fully supported.

Clarity of direction, also known as clarity of focus, is when an organization recognizes it can't be all things to all people and must decide what its focus will be. Too many organizations try to do too much for too many and end up doing too little for everyone, thus satisfying no one. An influential organization must have a laser-like focus on its direction if it expects to achieve desired outcomes.

Further, an organization must answer the "So what?" question, which is key to clarity of measurement. How do we know we're making a difference? What are our agreed upon metrics? Failing to be vigilant about addressing how success is measured will undermine any organization's ability to accomplish its mission.

Nearly one year ago, the Points of Light Foundation reorganized our resources to better align our infrastructure to support strategic priorities. Our goal was to increase our clarity of mission, direction and measurement. In this issue, we are pleased to share examples of how we're working smarter, not harder, through more focused, intentional partnerships, to engage more people and resources, more effectively in volunteer service.

Bill Bentley,
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Points of Light Foundation