Really, what is it that you do?

Really, what is it that you do?

And have you written that down, so other people know what it is that you do as well?

In this article today, we’re going to look at Mission Statements.

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Now some people believe mission statements are irrelevant these days. They’re a bygone thing of an age where people used to write just unnecessary rubbish that they stuck on the side of their building and it didn’t mean anything. And this is true; there are many organisations that create meaningless mission statements that didn’t help to convey what they were about or what they were doing.

So that’s not you. Your mission is much more significant than this? You have something that’s going to change the world, it’s going to make an enormous difference to everything. And as such, it deserves to be written down. Because as we’ve talked about before in other articles, whenever something is in black and white down, it’s more likely to be achieved.

And a mission statement should be something that should remain unchanged over time. It should convey a message about what your organisation doing, something that’s specific that sets you apart from the competition. Or even Why did you do it? And how do you do it?

Now, there are some things that you should be avoiding, some things that you’ve probably already recognise. Mission statements that have lots of words but say nothing, and they are meaningless.

Another thing to avoid is something that’s too long, too wordy or has terrible grammar — seeing these types of errors will usually result in people not having confidence in you and what you may stand for. And most of the time they will not bother reading to the end.

Have you ever come across one of those mission statements, that is full of self-flattery? So, “we like ourselves just the way we are”. Now, this is probably not the kind of mission statement your organisation should have.

So, what should a good Mission statement look like?

The first thing is to make sure that your mission statement conveys meaning. Encompassing you do very clear and short and sweet.

Next, make it short and snappy and less than 100 words, something that people can quite easily read and understand in the matter of a second the two.

Will, the people within your organisation, be able to understand, embrace and flow the meaning of that statement? If those who work with you cannot understand the meaning of it, how will your customers embrace it?

Let’s look at some good examples of mission statements.

Costa Coffee. “Saving the world from mediocre coffee”.

Microsoft, “Our mission is to empower every person in every organisation on the planet to achieve more.”

Tesla, “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

and Ted “to spread ideas”.

So, what is your mission statement? Have you written it down? Do the people inside your organisation know what it is that you’re doing? What it is it you’re trying to achieve? Or is that ultimate mission just an idea you’ve got in your mind, and can change regularly? Therefore, you and others around you don’t know where you’re going.

So, as Dave Romney said; “Life without a mission statement is like climbing to the top of the ladder, only to find you have it leaning against the wrong wall”.