Purpose brings meaning to business.
Whether we call it a mission, an objective, or just a strong conviction, having a purpose higher than anointing ourselves “the best” at whatever we do or simply making our next dollar will bring more meaning and joy to our work.
So much has been written on the topic of company mission statements that it’s hardly necessary for me to add anything. At least not on the subject of how to write one.
Too often, though, in an effort to capture something that sounds witty and unique, or something that will look great hanging in our office or placed prominently on our website, we overlook the real value a mission provides to us and our company.
Jake Woods, founder of Team Rubicon, a 135,000-strong volunteer organization that restores people’s homes and lives after natural disasters, comes close to explaining the value of a mission when he writes “Culture guides decisions in the absence of orders” and that a company’s culture is closely linked to its mission.
I’m not convinced that most founders of small businesses start their company with a lofty mission in place. Lofty thoughts aren’t usually on the mind of an entrepreneur just getting started in business. They usually have more immediate needs like winning customers, meeting payroll, and trying their best to stay one day ahead of their bills.
I’m more inclined to the Michael Gerber school of thought that most businesses are started by founders who have what he calls an Entrepreneurial Seizure. This is where the founder either quits or is fired from their previous job, starts a business, and wakes up from their emotional bender sometime later only to discover that the business they thought they started is really just a poor-paying job.
If a company’s mission is there from the very beginning, it’s often buried deep below the mountain of hard work, exhausting days, and sleepless nights that we all experience as we grow a company.
More often than not, a mission reveals itself over time rather than being announced. It’s frequently after we’ve struggled long enough with our company or succeeded long enough that our mission reveals itself, sometimes as a result of those very struggles or successes. And sometimes it takes years for this to happen.
Determining your mission is not a race. It’s often a process of discovery that shouldn’t be forced or rushed. Take your time. Ask yourself the right questions. Listen for the answers. Let your mission present itself. Make sure it’s your own and that you embrace it.
When I was in high school, I had a physics teacher who once told me, “If you can’t explain it to me (the answer to a problem in physics), then you don’t understand it yourself.” The same principle holds true with a company’s mission. If we’re struggling to find just the right words to capture it, then we’re probably struggling to understand what our mission truly is. Maybe we’re trying to write one that we’re not really bought into. Or maybe it hasn’t fully developed and is only a vague or preliminary idea of what it will be, or at least what we think it will be.
Keep working on your mission, but don’t force it. It can take months or even years to drill down deep enough to truly understand what your mission is. But it sure makes business more enjoyable once you do.
