Conversations about "business strategy," "vision," "goals," and "values" are often unclear because people fail to distinguish among these terms meaningfully. This short note presents a simple, powerful way of talking about the elements of a business strategy that comprise what we might call an organizational charter. The note discusses the sequencing and differences among "mission," "vision," "values," "strategy," and "operating goals" and their relationship to leadership. The note is useful in a business-strategy course or macro-OB module to create common language.
