13. Create a Personal Mission Statement

Without a written mission statement, it is easy to lose your way. Think about this. You and your family decide to take a vacation, so you pack your bags, load them into your car, and take off for your vacation. Because you do not have a clear destination in mind, you drive down one road until someone in the backseat tells you to turn down another. You turn on to that road, then someone else pipes in that it is a boring road. Soon everyone is arguing about which road to take. You return home exhausted, having spent your entire vacation driving aimlessly because you did not have a destination.

A mission statement is your destination. It tells, in exact words, what your company stands for and what you wish to achieve. Having a mission statement provides everyone in your organization with a clear focus and, most importantly, the same focus.

Performance Prompts

• Begin by analyzing what you, your company, and your team stand for.

• What service or product do you provide? Why is it important to your customers, and what is your role in providing that service or selling that product?

• What level of performance do you expect from yourself?

• How do you expect your customers to be treated?

• Your mission statement should be very specific about what your company (or you) expects to achieve.

• Your mission statement should be brief.

• Post your company and personal mission statements for your team and coworkers to see. Make sure each statement is clear, so everyone understands it.

• Focus daily on your mission.

• Everything you do should in some way move you toward your destination.

When This Happens ...

You do not see the need to write out a mission statement because you already have a clear vision of your company’s goals and the personal values by which you operate. After all, your company has a mission statement that is posted. One day you overhear your coworkers talking about your company, and you realize that each of them has a different idea about what their role in the company is.

Try This

As your company’s emissary, you need to understand how your role relates to your company’s mission and vision. You decide to write a mission statement, but you do not know how to do it. Begin by writing down how your work contributes to your company mission. Think about the values you wish to exemplify. Now put it into the context of a mission statement.

My mission is to do my best to be our customer’s provider of choice for ____; to demonstrate my care and concern for our customers by focusing on their needs; to satisfy my customers on the first try; to look for new and innovative ways to improve the products we offer; and to look for ways to grow personally.

Live up to your mission and values daily.