The Mission Statement

A mission statement is commonly talked about within organizational structures like businesses and non-profits. You’ll find as you read on that we talk about using a mission statement for personal as well as organizational purposes. We switch back and forth between references as well as use both kinds of examples. Interchange it as you like and what makes most sense to you.

Your mission statement answers the following questions:

1. What do you do?
2. How do you do it?
3. Whom do you do it for?
4. What value do you bring?

Your mission statement should:

• Be written in one or two sentences using clear language and free of jargon.
• Be easily articulated and executed seamlessly by yourself and/or others (family members, volunteers, employees of the organization).
• Be set in the present tense with proactive verbs.
• Be visited annually to see if modifications are necessary due to change in family dynamics, economic times, technological advances, expansion and growth in the market, or other mitigating factors.

The three main components to your mission statement:

1. The purpose – states the needs that you or the business addresses or solves.

Answers: Why does your organization exist? What is the ultimate result of your work? What results will occur due to your efforts?

Includes: An infinitive verb that indicates change (to increase, to decrease, to make positive, to reduce, to prevent, to agree, to eliminate, to heal, to fight, to end, to align, etc.) and an identification of the problem or condition to be changed.

2. The persona or business – describes the work you do or that of the organization.

Answers: What activity will the organization, unit, tribe, person do to accomplish its purpose?

Includes: Linking verbs, often “by providing” or “through”.

3. The values – outlines principles and beliefs that guide the work.

Answers: What are the basic beliefs we share as an organization? What do I truly believe guides my actions?

Includes: The core beliefs of the entire organization and guides each members through their work.

If you are unsure of your values, take this Values Assessment.

Here are some examples:

Our goal at the Smith house is to create an environment of love, kindness, honesty, and trust [purpose] and bring an increasing level of abundance, fulfillment, and profitability [values] to ourselves, extended family, friends, and community around us. We do this through our volunteering, donations, commitment to learning, and positivity [persona].

Another example:

JB Partners is committed to reducing stress of business owners and their employees [purpose] through intuitive and powerful [values] programming, one-to-one coaching, and comprehensive consulting [business] so each client reaches their full potential and lives their best life free of BS excuses and full of “HOLY SH*T!” moments [values].

And one more:

My goal is to live a life of wonder and adventure (purpose) through self-exploration, prospecting local surroundings, traveling the world, and looking into ways to expand my views of it (values). I’ll achieve this by offering my SMaRT workshops around the world, volunteer for organizations that align with my values, and partner with like-minded people (persona/business).

Now that you see the power of a mission statement and the words behind them, it’s time you started to work on your own.

ACTIVITY: Create Your Mission Statement

Click here to download “Create Your Mission Statement”

Instructions:

Step 1: Complete the chart according to the column headers. Fill in all four spaces for each column. Don’t let the limited number of blocks stop you from adding more to the lists. The more options you have, the higher the chance you’ll create a mission statement ideally to your goals.

Step 2: Go through each column and circle the answer that resonates the strongest with you.

Step 3: Write your mission statement on the lines below using the formula provided. This offers a jumping-off point for you to work from. Some tweaking might be necessary.

Your/Organization name is committed to CIRCLED ITEM FROM COLUMN 4 by/through CIRCLED ITEMS(S) FROM COLUMN 3 + CIRCLED ITEMS(S) FROM COLUMN 2 so every WHO YOU WORK WITH can achieve CIRCLED ITEM(S) FROM COLUMN 1.