The Mission Statement

Are you interested in building a strong foundation in your new or existing organization? Do you have ethics and standards? Do you also have a crystal clear picture of what it is that you want, and where you want to go? Creating a mission statement is really the most critical first step toward insuring that your new or existing organization has a clearly defined purpose to help it succeed - and if you are going to employ people, give them every available possibility to share that purpose with you.

You may be an entrepreneur starting out or the leader of a new and successful company, you may already have a personal mission statement, but if you're planning to build an organization where many people work together to produce a product or service, shaping the identity of your company begins with its mission.

It is a company's reason for being and should embody all that your company is and all that you aspire it to be.

The mission serves to bring together your guiding principles and goals while simultaneously creating a subconscious manifestation. That is; if you think it, then it shall be so. It will also allow others to embrace your vision and, if clear - find a purpose within the organization that's much more valuable than just their working for a paycheck.

The mission is the mental picture, simply defined with words to be repeated and affirmed. I personally believe that there are two mission statements at work for the Entrepreneur - always. There is the personal statement which can be a list or a sentence or two describing how you will live your life each day. Then there is the business mission statement which can also be a list described with a sentence or two that anyone can understand, identify with and act upon.

What is a mission statement usually made up of? 1. Title 2. Keywords 3. Phrases

Interestingly enough, if we look specifically at tone setting keywords we find the following commonly used:

Best, Commitment, Communities, Customers, Employees, Environment, Growth, Leader, Mission, Quality, Service, Shareholders, Success, Team, Values.

We're unable to deny that these words do have an impact upon our thoughts... do they not?

Creating Your Mission Statement - Step-By-Step

Here is a step by step guide for the creation taken from The Mission Statement Book.

1. Decide who will write the mission statement. (a person or a group of people)

2. Agree on when you will work on it. (morning - afternoon - evening?)

3. Determine Your Target Audience. (Employees?, Customers?, Suppliers?, Stockholders?, The General Public?,) You must know who you are talking to before you can decide what it is that you want to say.

4. Decide on the "language" Consider the vision statement - value statement - principles - philosophies - ethics - and the growing consideration of environmental policies. The nature, tone, and length is of course, totally up to you.

5. Adopt a format. Will this be in the annual report? Will it be over the front door and are you going to print it on coffee mugs and flash drives to give away at Trade Shows? If you have a great mission statement, don't be shy. Tell everyone by using as many creative ways as possible to let it be known.

In the process of doing my research, I realized that there was some excellent material on this topic. I also realized that in comparison to "How to Get Rich Quick" material such as books and how to's, the amount of material available on mission statements was very small.

I have built a web site dedicated to the topic of mission statements and related topics in an effort to help people in business, managers, executives, students and consumers gain and understand the importance of "foundational knowledge." I also believe that a mission statement releases the Law of Attraction which I will cover in my next article.

For more information visit http://www.missionstudy.net.
liam@missionstudy.net

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