Mission Statements Articulate Our Highest Aspirations
Striving for something more than our day-to-day existence feels great. Getting out of bed early on a weekend to coach the kid’s baseball team; squeezing in 30 minutes on the treadmill to meet a health goal; making a difference…perhaps even randomly…by assisting a stranger with something, are the substantive parts of our memory. These acts or thoughts, that exist above our efforts to just get-by, underlie our humanity, and most importantly, our individual sense of worth and goodness.
Company mission statements identify these higher-self goals that are important to us as individuals and deepen the value of our company to our clients, our employees and…if we’re able to truly realize these aspirations…the world. Additionally they help us to:
- Articulate the inspirational elements of what we do
- Provide a North Star for all planning and decision making
- Serve as a compass to navigate intra-office communications and interactions
- Lay a foundation for a company’s brand or image
Examples of Great Mission Statements
Many organizations have taken the time to write mission statements, but fail to integrate them effectively into their day-to-day operations. Take a moment and review the companies below that have shaped their workplace cultures, products, services and their community involvement around looming missions and/or values. As you review each, ask yourself whether you’d be inclined to apply for a job with them; whether working there would be fun; whether you would work harder to help such a company be successful; whether or not customers would be more likely to enjoy the company’s products and services; and whether or not the company is more likely to be competitive.
But don’t stop there…companies that have successfully disseminated goals and values that extend beyond mere growth have set a tone for all decision making at the company. These companies better understand what questions to ask when interviewing candidates, what to look for in resumes and behavior. Their training programs are written and executed through the filter of underlying principals. Stalemated management decisions can be resolved by examining any issue against the backdrop of the mission.
Whole Foods: Here’s a link to Whole Food’s Mission, Vision and Values page. Take note of a plan that loans money to small-scale farmers to help them be more productive. What kind of an impact does this outside-of-the-box thinking have on Whole Food’s supply chain? Its reputation in the community? Its visibility? In an age when some consumers are making drastic changes to their eating habits and life style based on sustainability, what does this move do to client loyalty? How do you presume this idea came about? Do you believe it was the brainchild of their CEO or a product of a brainstorming session in a management meeting? What jump-started the thinking process?
Chipotle: One of Chipotle’s marketing videos has had tens-of-millions of YouTube viewers and has been covered widely in global publications like the LA Times and the Washington Post. It has been identified as a groundbreaking advertising campaign and has been used to inspire additional marketing ads. Do you think the film producers were inspired by the Chipotle Mission Statement? What about the advertising company; is there anything in the video that suggests that Chipotle’s commitment to its mission informed which advertising firm to hire?
Apple: In an article entitled, How Steve Jobs Saved Apple, the choice to make Steve Jobs the CEO is cited as a game-changing milestone in the company’s journey to world-wide dominance. With or without a mission statement, what is the impact of choosing a leader who deeply understands the company’s reason for being and who can bring the same largess of mind to its daily operations that he did to the company’s creation?
Samsung: In the 90’s, Samsung paid some of its employees to move, live and immerse themselves in diverse cultures all over the world, a management concept 20 years ahead of its time. They didn’t have to work there; they just had to live and observe. Their feedback helped Samsung understand the needs of people all over the earth. Years subsequent to this, Samsung embarked on a successful global marketing plan. The chairman of the time, Lee Kun-Hee, was responsible for this novel decision. Do you think that Mr. Kun-Hee intrinsically believed in the value of understanding consumers and their needs?
Starbucks: This company’s Mission is ‘To inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time’. Starbucks has a policy that everyone who sits in their café can have a free refill of coffee. How does this business decision dovetail with their mission? Like Apple under the leadership of the late Jobs, Starbucks is constantly tinkering with defining its identity, its purpose, and its unique client proposition. Most recently, the company has adopted 3 pillars of service:
- Anticipate
- Connect/personalize
- Own
Think about the employee training process at your practice. Lengthy, no? What if every training lesson at your practice were placed in the context of the Starbuck’s 3 pillars? Would that mean that you could both teach employees what to do and how to do it at the same time?
While a successful mission statement might be difficult to articulate, its contents are already inside of you. Stating what you want to accomplish is essential, but the words ultimately pale to the actions required to make your mission live. If you are struggling with finding the right words and phrasing to state your mission, focus on actions within your company that might do the talking for you. Once you see these higher-self goals playing out, inspiration will teach you how to say them to the world.
Veterinary hospitals that find a way to articulate and live the ‘mission’ of their work have happier teams, lower turnover, higher productivity, better medical outcomes, and create a more positive impact on their clients. Here’s how to get started.
Mission Exercises for Veterinary Hospitals
Read through the list of exercises and choose one or two that you think you might find enjoyable to do. Do yourself a favor and genuinely commit the time to do the task thoughtfully.
- Take a picture: This is the one exercise that can be completed in the hustle and bustle of any given day. Invite all your team members to take out their phones and photograph images of what they believe is your mission statement playing out in real time within your practice. Later, assemble all the pictures into a slide presentation, play it for the staff, and ask everyone what they believe they see. Write the ideas down and use the list as a source for a written statement.
- Great Day At Work: Recall the last time you had a really great day at work. Ask yourself why it was genuinely enjoyable. Dig beyond any snarky answers that your mind might jump at (nothing died, nothing went wrong for a change, everyone showed up. Etc.) Should your mission embrace and pursue these outcomes more regularly?
- Create Three Lists: Have everyone make three lists about work: Everything that they are good at, everything that they enjoy doing, and every thing that gives them a sense of purpose. Discourage self-editing during the process. Just write. Afterwards, look for common themes and jot them down. Chances are that these themes are at the heart of what everyone should be doing.
- Recall a ‘Flow’ State: The things we are best at are the tasks that naturally flow out of us, that require the least amount of concentration, and provide us the most satisfaction. Ask your team to recall the last time they had a flow state and what it is they were doing.
- Meditate and Question: Explore some of the guided meditations on YouTube. I find ones that walk you through finding a spirit guide or a higher power most helpful, but if you’re not a fan of the pseudoscience, just use them to help stimulate creative thinking and to regulate your breathing. Afterwards, think about the answers, visions, or ideas that came to mind.
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