Mission Statements, Anyone?

The employees of a large multinational corporation got the shock of their lives some years ago when its president announced he was quitting his job that had made him a multi-millionaire. His reason: he was looking for a life.

Scores of white and blue-collar workers hop from one job to another in a matter of months confused about the importance of their work – or why they should work at all. Countless people have become habitually bitter and cranky while simply going about their daily tasks and chores.

These attitudes stem from the absence of a clear knowledge of their mission, according to best-selling author Laurie Beth Jones. In her book “The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life,” she defines a mission as “a reason for being.

A mission statement is a brief, succinct and focused statement of purpose that is written down by a person or an entity and which should be used to initiate, evaluate and refine all of life’s activities.

Divinely Ordained Mission

She says people should follow “divinely ordained missions” because bees hum while they work – they don’t whine. Quoting a noted economist, she says problems related to one’s work are unique to the human species only because all other creatures seem to know what they are supposed to be doing!

Creating your mission statement, says Jones, helps you make decisions in work and at home. “It is the one thing that can keep someone alive in settings as brutal and life-threatening as concentration camps,” she writes.

It begins with finding your mission and forming a sense of it. To find it, one has to answer these questions: What do I stand for? Is there any principle, cause, value or purpose which I am willing to defend or devote my life to? What are my spiritual, mental and emotional talents and gifts?

Jones writes that a mission statement should be broad enough to cover one’s interests and activities beyond his current job. She says, citing the case of her father who died at around the age of retirement thinking he had no more reason to exist and his mission ended the day he retired:

To confine one’s personality and gifts to his present job leads him to lose his identity when his job changes or ends. This is the reason many people think that their mission is ‘to retire at age 55′.

Formula

Neither should a mission statement spring from one’s role. Jones says this is more common among wives and mothers whose children, all grown up, have left home. These women, she notes, lose their sense of identity because of their belief that being a mother is their only mission in life.

Jones reveals in her book a formula that will help individuals create their own mission statement. First, she says, put in two or three verbs such as “prepare,” “manifest,” “nurture,” “mold,” “identify,” “organize,” “brighten” or “communicate.” Follow these up with your core value or values which may include the environment, family issues, community development, and the like. And end your statement with a clause indicating the group or cause which most moves or excites you.

A chief executive officer may therefore revise his mission statement “to create profit for my shareholders” to look like something like this: “to foster innovation, enhance cooperation and create prosperity for all the people I serve.” The latter statement, Jones emphasizes, addresses not only the CEO’s corporate interests but also his personal life.

“To Serve, Heal”

A medical or social worker who is a father and a husband can have a mission statement better than “prestige and money.” Jones says this can be improved thus: “to serve and heal others in the ministry of Christ.”

A labor relations expert may sum up his mission as: “to uphold, discover and support trust, honesty and integrity in all relationships,” something that will use not only his skills but also his innate abilities.

It is a noble thing to think that one’s goal is “to raise a happy family.” But those who make this their mission in life usually end up unhappy because it makes them responsible for something they cannot control – other people’s happiness. Jones says a broader mission statement should read: “to create, nurture, and maintain an environment of growth, challenge and unlimited potential for all those around me.”

It’s often been said that the most important jobs in the world are parenting, teaching and healing. Jones says even if these jobs are too underpaid and undervalued, you have accomplished your mission and your life can be considered a success if you raise or teach or heal even one creature. And for us Christians, our mission is to emulate Christ.