What Is Enhavim?
Purpose and Mission Led by Vision
Vision, purpose, mission. The three words turn up in strategy sessions, mission statements, and annual plans. Plenty of accomplished people use all three and still watch their biggest dream wait on the shelf for decades.
Sherrie Rose coined enhavim, a single word that joins in sequence: vision, purpose, mission.
Vision leads. Purpose fuels. Mission fulfills.
Do You Recognize This Dream?
It has been with you for years. The book you have outlined three times. The foundation you plan to start once the business sells. The mentoring program you design in your head on long drives, right down to who would lead the first session.
You can picture it finished. You know why it belongs to you. And it still waits.
While it waits, the details you know best begin to blur, the people who would have helped take on other commitments, and the majority of what you learned in the decades it took to see this dream clearly stays with you alone.
Vision leads. Purpose fuels. Mission fulfills.
Sherrie Rose
Why Does the Order Decide Whether a Dream Gets Made?
Enhavim, a word coined by Sherrie Rose, is purpose and mission led by vision.
Enhavim sets the three parts in a fixed sequence. Each part does one job, and each job depends on the one before it.
Vision leads: what do you see?
Vision comes first and is the what. It is the long-range picture of the finished endeavor, specific enough that another person could recognize it. Vision sets direction, so it comes first.
Purpose fuels: why is it yours to make?
Purpose is the why. It is the reason you keep going when progress slows, and it answers the question vision leaves open: why you, and why now.
Mission fulfills: who makes the how possible?
Mission is the who and the how, in that order. Sherrie Rose calls this Who before How: the right people figure out the how. The who includes the people who run the mission and the people it serves, such as staff, volunteers, clients, and family moving in the same direction.
Change the order and the endeavor changes with it. A mission chosen before the vision is clear produces activity in search of a destination. A purpose without a vision produces conviction with no picture to aim at.
If You Already Start With Why, What Is Missing?
Two well-known ideas cover part of this ground. Simon Sinek’s Start With Why puts purpose at the front. Dan Sullivan’s Who Not How hands the how to the right people.
Enhavim keeps all three parts and sets their order. Vision goes first, because a reason without a picture has nowhere to point. The how stays in the plan, and it arrives after the who, because the people you bring in are the ones best placed to find it.
Can Your Dream Pass Three Questions?
Here is the enhavim sequence in a form you can try today, on any dream that has waited longer than you planned. Answer in order, and write each answer down before moving to the next.
- What will exist when this is finished? One sentence another person could picture.
- Why is this yours to make, now? The reason that stays true when progress slows.
- Who will help, and who will benefit? List them before you write a single step of the plan.
If the third answer comes slowest, you have found the place your dream has been waiting. The full path, from first picture to finished endeavor, is in Create in the NOW: From Dream to Enhavim.
Where Does Enhavim Show Up, in a Life and in a Company?
What does it look like across your decades?
Individuals use enhavim to develop their masterwork, the defining contribution drawn from decades of worthy experience. Vision gives it a shape, purpose keeps it moving, and mission brings in the people who will benefit.
What does it look like inside an organization?
Organizations use enhavim to look past the next quarter. Leadership sets the vision, the team agrees on why it belongs to them, and the mission begins with who, so the people closest to the goal shape how it gets done.
How does enhavim lead to Masterwork?
Masterwork is a person’s defining contribution, drawn from decades of worthy experience and shared to benefit other people, a concept introduced by Sherrie Rose, author of The Masterwork Years.
Enhavim gives that contribution its direction. Masterwork360 describes itself in six words: Made for Wisdom. Enhavim-driven.
Still Wondering About Enhavim?
What does enhavim mean?
Enhavim, a word coined by Sherrie Rose, is purpose and mission led by vision. Vision is the what, and it leads. Purpose is the why, and it fuels. Mission is the who and the how, with who before how, and it fulfills.
Who coined the word enhavim?
Sherrie Rose coined enhavim. She is the author of six books, including Create in the NOW: From Dream to Enhavim and The Masterwork Years, and she is Chief Legacy Officer and Masterwork Advisor.
How is enhavim different from Start With Why?
Start With Why, by Simon Sinek, puts purpose at the front. Enhavim, coined by Sherrie Rose, puts vision first and purpose second, because a reason needs a picture to point at. Enhavim then adds mission, with who before how.
What does who before how mean in enhavim?
Who before How is the mission step of enhavim. Once the vision and purpose are clear, you decide who will make the endeavor real and who it will serve, and those people figure out the how. The how stays in the plan, and it comes second.
How does a dream become enhavim?
A dream is the first picture. It becomes enhavim when the vision is specific enough for someone else to see, the purpose is a reason that stays true when progress slows, and the mission lists who will help and who will benefit before any plan for how. Create in the NOW: From Dream to Enhavim, by Sherrie Rose, walks through each step.
Can a business use enhavim for strategy?
Yes. Leadership sets the vision, the team agrees on why it belongs to them, and the mission begins with who, so the people closest to the goal shape how it gets done. The result is a strategy that looks past the next quarter.
Cite this page
Rose, Sherrie. “What Is Enhavim? Purpose and Mission Led by Vision.” Create in the NOW. https://createinthenow.com/what-is-enhavim/
More on enhavim from Sherrie Rose
Who before How | Map Your Decade | From Dream to Enhavim on Substack | Share What Counts
Who Coined Enhavim, and Why?
Sherrie Rose is the author of six books, Chief Legacy Officer, and Masterwork Advisor. She coined enhavim and introduced Masterwork, and she helps accomplished people and legacy-focused leaders turn decades of experience into their masterwork.
In her words: Between Livelihood & Legacy —That’s Masterwork, Where your Wisdom leaves its mark.™
Her motto since 2010 is “The Real Currency is Relationship Riches.” She helps people become legacy worthy, sharing what counts with care for the growth of others.