Personal Mission Statements: A Two-Pronged Approach

Is it possible to create a mission statement with true meaning and value, i.e., one that actually “guides” you as a leader or person? I’ve facilitated my fair share of mission statement building sessions and more often than not the statements get left behind in the conference room with the stale coffee and doughnut remnants.

Recently however, I came across the book, The Path by Laurie Beth Jones. In it, Jones asks readers to define their CAUSE. What jumpstarts your day, ignites your fire, get you excited enough that you race to pursue opportunities around it? Your job isn’t always your cause, but it can be. For example, my cause is transforming the lives of senior leaders in small/medium-sized businesses. I have a true passion that I’ve been able to translate into an amazing career, doing what I love.

I found, however, that The Path’s template only worked for leaders like myself who were driven by a well-defined cause. Without a cause, people struggled to define their mission. After much research and testing, I developed a two-prong approach, dividing leaders into either a “cause-driven” or “values-driven” approach.

CAUSE-DRIVEN. A cause-driven direction speaks to your overriding passion but doesn’t define how you life your life. For example, here’s my cause-driven mission statement: To transform the lives of leaders through awareness, insight and action.

VALUES-DRIVEN. A values-driven statement speaks to how a person conducts himself or herself in life. Here’s an example of a values-driven mission statement: I offer grace and kindness to everyone I touch, living each day mindfully, modeling strength of character and high integrity.

I used to think values-driven statements were too “soft” to be useful, but many would argue they are more powerful than cause-driven statements as people who define their mission by a set of values will apply that purpose, or reason for being, to whatever is going on in their life.

I encourage every leader—and person—to create a personal mission statement they can turn to in times of doubt. Having clarity around your passion or values can save you sleepless nights and allow you to move into the correct guiding question in order to make sound decisions.

If you’d like a template to create a personal mission statement, the attached tool will provide you with everything you need to create your own cause-driven or value-driven statement. Once you craft your personal mission statement, I invite you to share it here.

Three Questions That Will Change The Way You Do Business

Three simple questions. In my work with leaders, helping them decide which of these three questions should guide their time and attention results in a tremendous impact on their business.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda…

What should I do? This is a question leaders need to ask themselves without shying away from the answer. Do you need to have a difficult conversation with a co-worker? (If so, I recommend Susan Scott’s excellent book, Fierce Conversations.) Do you need to shut down a manufacturing line that’s contaminated? Doing what you should do may not be what you want to do but it’s something that needs to be done for organizational and interpersonal dynamics or to avoid/contain a crisis situation.

What could I do? This is a powerful question for generating options. It expands our world and invites us to consider new possibilities. I recommend leaders set aside a portion of each day to think about the “coulds” alongside other key leaders. Working as a group to consider possibilities generates alignment, builds ownership in the business and establishes or solidifies stronger relationships.

What do I want to do? Asking this question can provide clarity on issues or opportunities that may be emotional or complex. Getting clear on preference doesn’t mean you must act on that preference, but it can guide how you act upon a “should” or “could.” For example, I might want to invest in a new piece of equipment to expand my manufacturing capacity rather than continuing to outsource. My analysis indicates that our contractor delivers excellent product quality at low cost. Logically, I should outsource it. Emotionally, I want to bring it in-house. Addressing all factors (instead of denying or avoiding them) facilitates better decision-making.

Should, could, want. Leaders ask themselves these three questions every day, but learning which situation dictates which question should be asked brings about a much higher level of awareness in decision-making.

Terrified

That’s not the word that comes to mind for most people when describing a future without the responsibilities of running a business. It’s not the word that comes up when imagining a life with the time to do whatever you want to do, and sufficient financial reserves to fund a range of options. So why is that the word I hear most often? Often, business owners confide in me about their plans for succession and how they are thinking about a full, or some sort of partial exit. Whether they are 55 or 75 years old, the most common emotion they express to me is fear. Despite a successful, financially rewarding career as an owner, this is a major life change, and they have fear. In some cases it’s a subtle gnawing fear – more of an uncertainty about getting started or a discomfort thinking about ‘what’s next’, making it easy to go on with business as usual. In other cases it’s a constant stressor as worries about finding that right buyer/successor, , concerns about fully funding their lifestyle in retirement, waning energy levels, or what to do with endless hours of free time permeate sleepless nights or creep in during the busyness of the day.

Our perceptions, their reality

I know what you’re thinking…You’re thinking ‘That’s crazy! Those worries are unfounded. They are successful business owners! Hard charging, financially savvy, with a backlog of activities they never had the time to do! This will simply be the next stage of a wonderful, earned, and well-deserved life!’

Sadly, that’s rarely what I hear. The fear they face is often due to one of the following:

• Stress from the reality of letting go of their business. This includes the stresses of finding a trusted, qualified buyer, negotiating through the sale or transfer of their business, and the uncertainty of whether their financial return will meet expectations…or worse, their base financial requirements.
• Losing their identity, and in some cases – their perceived status, built over a lifetime of growing and leading a successful business. Who am I if I am not the owner of…?
• Uncertainty about ‘what’s next?’. In our achievement-oriented culture, retirement/semi-retirement is treated as an exciting, coveted time! But many owners fear endless days of nothing -- boredom. And worse, they believe that if they broach the subject of their uncertainty with friends or family, they will be ridiculed or summarily dismissed. And they just might be!

The reality is that every owner will leave his or her business one day. Whether they leave to go TO something they have been waiting to do all of their life, find themselves ousted from the business as a new owner takes over, or they experience health or family issues…. They will exit.

The opportunity

To do it well, we need to address the fear. How? First, we need to talk about it! We need to reduce the stigma associated with the stress and uncertainty that comes with a life change of this magnitude. A change this big will often come with a wide range of emotions. Holding them inside serves no one. We need to be able to talk about them, express them, seek out others who are facing them as well. Let’s destigmatize the fear!

We also need to take action. We need to come together to create an environment where it’s acceptable, even encouraged, to acknowledge the stressors, and then we need to build systems and structures to navigate the transition from business ownership to what’s next. We need to support each other as we figure out how to let go of the responsibilities and identities that served us so well in the past and craft new ones, creating a different and exciting future.

Cultural Shifts

Some of the most significant shifts in our cultural and social norms have come from the combination of changing demographics, a collective recognition that change is necessary, and the innovation and creation of a whole new set of systems and structures to facilitate that change. It’s time to create a shift. With baby boomers turning 68 this year, six to 8 Million businesses will be changing hands in the next nine years. We need to address the stress and uncertainty head on. This is not just a nice to do. It’s imperative.

What are you willing to acknowledge…even if only to yourself?