Contrary to some business guru’s out there lately I’m still a huge proponent of the importance of the mission statement. Your company mission statement defines its purpose, its “why”, its reason for being. It should tell yourself as a business owner, CEO or president, why the heck you get out of bed every morning and more importantly why your employees come to work as well. It says why your business does what it does, not how it does it.
A well-crafted mission statement can be used as a simple leadership acid test of sorts as well. It can simply provide you with high-level guidance about what is important and what is noise when working on everything from daily activities through annual planning but equally what NOT to do. A mission statement should sift everything out that is non-essential to the mission.
Ask yourself if an activity, a new venture, partnership, even a daily task supports the mission of your organization. A well-crafted mission statement helps you, as the leader, to say no to the constant pressures to stray off the path for a quick, one-off win. Those kinds of exceptions, if you are not careful, can easily become the rule, making your mission ambiguous and your business loses its laser focus. The mission statement should be the glue that holds your business together as it weathers the storms of economic ups and downs, as well as when it expands or contracts or as it moves into new markets. The mission should remain unchanged as your operations, processes and methods constantly change and adjust to keep pace with the demands of innovation and the needs of the market you are serving.
So, what does a mission statement look like? Let’s start with what it is not. Borrowing from Peter Drucker, the reason your business exists isn’t to make a profit, that, my friend, is the desired result of being in business. Your mission statement should be short, (around or under 10 words – it should fit on a t-shirt), it should inspire you and your team and have “eternal” meaning.
To those who still think the mission statement as being superfluous or unnecessary fluff, think of it as the anchor pin, a piton of sorts, that keeps your business purpose secure and unchanging, keeping your business on track as it makes its way daily through an ever-changing world.
