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The Power of Being Different
Lesson 4:
Formulating your personal mission/vision statement Intro: In his book "Crafting Effective Mission & Vision
Statements," Emil Angelica defines a good
mission statement as "a short, snappy statement of the purpose of the
organization" that possesses four qualities: breadth, durability,
challenge, and distinction." Angelica defines a vision statement as follows: "A vision statement
"sketches a picture of the organization's desired future in a few
paragraphs," answering two questions: "What will be different in the
world in three to five years because our organization exists? And, what role
will our organization play in creating that difference?" In fact you already have the basics here. But let's go into a little more detail. The Mission statement: Tom Peters said: "A true mission is a clear and compelling goal that focuses
people's efforts. It is tangible, specific, crisp, clear and engaging. It
reaches out and grabs people in the gut." (http://www.tompeters.com/toms_world/t1993/050793-in.asp) Sweeney (2002) explains in an article, titled "What's your mission?" published by Credit Union Management; that "a good mission statement [...]
must explain [your] objectives, [and] purpose. Your mission should say who
you are, what you do and for whom." Short and to the point is the secret of a good mission statement. It may
vary from one sentence to a paragraph. But don't make it too long. A mission statement needs to communicate the
essence of you or your organization to your stakeholders and to the public. What is important about your
mission statement is that your main
ideas are articulated, understood and supported by your stakeholders. Why is a mission statement important? For many reasons,
among which the following: §
Stakeholders
can waste time "barking up the wrong tree" §
You may not be
able to think broadly enough about your possibilities if your mission statement
is unclear or overly narrow §
You may not
realize when it is time to change your focus. §
Most importantly, "If
you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which way you go." Your mission statement
could consist of these main points: ¯ A
Purpose statement: ·
What you seek
to accomplish. ¯ The
Business Statement: This statement outlines the activities you choose in order to pursue
your purpose. Specifically, you must answer, "What activity am I going to
do to accomplish our purpose?" For example, there are many ways to work on
the motivation of school drop-outs: ·
to organize
tutoring sessions ·
to educate the
parents in motivation at home ·
to provide job
training to school drop-outs. Each of these are
different activities, but they may be different means of achieving the same
purpose. ¯ Values: Values are beliefs, which you hold in common, and endeavor to put into
practice. The values guide you in performing your work. Specifically, you
should ask, "What are the basic beliefs that I have?" ¯ In addition to the three elements discussed
above, you may want to address the following questions in developing your
mission statement: (More
detail available at thesite from which this text was personalized: http://www.allianceonline.org/faqs.html) Clearly, the answers to the these
questions could be included in the mission statement or added as elaboration of
the mission statement. Pinskey (1997) writes, in 101
ways to promote yourself, "Whether you're a big business or a
mom-end-pop-store, whether you're global or on a street corner in a town with a
population of 700, a mission statement: o
Presents a way
to establish and understands goals o
Regulates the
means and the time frame by which these goals will be accomplished o
Brings
substance and meaning to why you are doing business. (p. 7) Once you've written your Mission
Statement, ask yourself these questions that Tom Peters formulated: Do [I] have a real mission -- a Big Hairy Audacious Goal [BHAG]? Do [I]
find it exciting? Does it get [my] juices going?" Does it get [me] out of
bed in the morning? Can [I] say it a hundred different ways, yet the goal is
still clear? And, finally, is it aligned with the underlying core values and
purpose of [me, Inc.]? Keep in mind that a BHAG without the bedrock of deeper
values and purpose lacks the spirit of great human achievement. (http://www.tompeters.com/toms_world/t1993/050793-in.asp) The Vision Statement A vision statement attempts to articulate the future. It must be consistent
with [your] mission, [?] strategy and philosophy. (Sweeney, 2002, Credit
Union Management, p. 9) Emmerich (2001) states, in her article What's in a Vision? published
by CMA Management, "A
[...] vision statement needs to be decided by management, yet it needs to capture
the hearts of those who work on the team? (p. 10). If that team entails only yourself, that's okay. Let it capture
your heart, then. Emmerich suggests
further: 1. Make your vision statement compelling Emotion, not logic, compels people to do great
things. That's why those vision statements that stir emotion work, while those
that rely on logic are rarely effective. 2. Eliminate the mumbo jumbo Get to the heart of your message and to what really
matters to your customers and employees. A clear vision needs to be short -
preferably fewer than 10 words. If it cannot be repeated in a short sentence,
it is not going to work. Every [stakeholder] needs to hear it, understand it,
believe it, repeat it, and act on it incessantly for it to take hold. 3. Resist stating the obvious An effective vision statement serves others and
ties into people's motivations. [Your co-workers] want to feel that they are
making a positive impact on people's lives, not merely a positive impact on the
company's bottom line. They want to be able to follow a vision that helps them
realize their personal passions and beliefs. "Articulating your vision is the most powerful thing you can do; it's also
one of the most difficult things to do. However, by speaking with your
employees [if you are running a company] and learning what they're good at,
what their goals are, and how they want the organization to grow, you can
develop a vision that motivates and inspires your team to greatness."
(Emmerich, 2001, p. 10) Tom Peters
identified a clear vision of the desired future state of the organization as an
essential component of high performance. (http://www.allianceonline.org/faqs.html) The Process for Creating a Vision Take the time to assimilate this information, use the following example to
exercise your planning techniques: It is five years from now and you have, marvelously enough,
created your most desirable district. Now it is your job to describe it - as
if you were able to see it, realistically around you. Respond to the following questions: To keep in mind: Steven Covey captured the essence of a vision statement by explaining,
"Psychologist Viktor Frankl found that having a transcendent vision made it
possible for people to survive the Nazi concentration camps. And I suggest that
having a transcendent, super ordinate vision is the best way to galvanize a
team and find success in today's chaotic corporate world." (Covey, 2001, Mission
Implausible, p. 42) We're halfway! Move on to: Lesson 5
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