What is a Mission Statement?

In my last article, we talked about the importance of creating a mission statement that inspires.

Mission statements define the foundational actions of your organization. They are the driving force behind organizational culture.

But what is a mission statement?

Mission Statement Definition

The answer below is a succinct way to respond to the question, “What is a mission statement?”.

A mission statement is a short and simple description of an organization’s purpose.

Your mission statement should answer this fundamental question: “Why does my organization exist?”

I intentionally used two words in my definition above: short and simple. It’s important you understand why.

Let’s begin with short. I recently sat in a board meeting where we discussed the organization’s mission statement. When the CEO asked the board members to recite the mission statement, the anxiety in the room was palpable.

Most members got part of it right, but nobody knew the full mission statement from start to finish.

Why? It had over 50 words in an impossible-to-remember format.

That’s a huge problem!

If the board members – the appointed keepers of the mission – couldn’t recite the mission statement, how could they expect the people working in the organization to do so?

Your mission statement should be short. Your goal should be to say more with less. Don’t try to fit in words because you think they are important. If everything is important, nothing is.

A helpful exercise: impose hard boundaries on your mission statement’s length. Limit it to 10 words or less. The boundaries force you to be intentional with your words.

Next, make it simple. Complexity is the enemy of memory. More than anything, you want to remember what your mission statement is, so you can recall it when you need it the most.

For instance, take my mission statement. Here’s how you make it complex:

To have a global impact on leaders at every stage so that they grow into mature, capable people that take their organizations to the next level of growth and success.

Now, here’s what the mission statement looks like when you’ve made it simple:

To help leaders flourish.

The latter includes all of the former, and then some! It can be framed many different ways exactly because it is short and simple.

Complex mission statements box you in; simple mission statements free you up.

Your mission statement should be short, simple and accurately describe why your organization exists.

Mission Statement Purpose

Now that we’ve answered the question, “What is a mission statement?”, we can discuss their purpose: to explain why your organization exists.

Mission statements give present meaning to all the actions that happen within your organization.

Every function, every department, every person should be aligned with what you have said in your mission statement.

But it doesn’t stop there. Mission statements also give present meaning to all the actions seen outside your organization.

Your mission statement, then, has a dual purpose: to unify people inside and outside to your organization’s highest calling.

Do you see that? Because it serves two purposes – to unify internal and external resources – it absolutely must be memorable and impactful.

A quick thought exercise: Why does your organization exist?

It can be a difficult question to answer. Many people don’t answer it precisely because it is difficult. You are not that person!

Remember, your mission statement is seen and experienced by everyone inside and outside of your organization.

Let your mission statement guide your actions, not hinder them.

Mission Statement Effects

We’ve answered the question “What is a mission statement?”. We’ve also discussed their importance in defining your organization’s purpose.

But what are the effects of a mission statement?

They are subtle but real. The biggest effects (both positive and negative) can be seen in decision making. Mission statements consciously and subconsciously guide how your organization makes decisions.

Recall the story I shared in the previous article about the poor use of words in a church’s mission statement. The emphasis was put on a place, not a people.

No small wonder, then, that their meetings led to irrational decision making because of the negative impact on the place, even though they would have amounted to a positive impact for the people.

The effects are also visible in how you communicate. A great mission statement weaves itself into the fabric of organizational communication. Some mission statements are so compelling that they can be found in public marketing campaigns.

The important idea here is that you can direct conversation with your mission statement. It’s that powerful.

There are other effects your mission statement has on your organization, but decision making and communication are most critical.

A great mission statements primes the pathways to better decision making and communication.

And, on the whole, organizations that are better at decision making and communication win.

What Now?

Let’s do a quick recap. In the first article of the series, we discussed creating mission statements that inspire. They complete the WHY of your core beliefs as a person or organization.

And in this article, we set out to answer the question “What is a mission statement?” and talked about the response:

A mission statement is a short and simple description of an organization’s purpose.

In the next few articles in the series, we are going to go further into understanding mission statements and their impact on your organization:

• Mission Statement vs. Vision Statement: What’s the Difference? Hint: there is a difference, and you need to be able to understand it. Great mission statements are not great vision statements. The work together, but they are different in principle and impact.
• 17 Mission Statement Examples From World-Class Organizations We will take a deeper look into mission statements from 17 different organizations and uncover the WHY behind them. I’ll give you some additional ideas that you can take when working on your own mission statement.
• How to Write a Mission Statement (and Make It Compelling) Then, we will go through an exercise to write out your mission statement. I’ll include some helpful templates to give you a starting point, and by the end, you should have all the tools you need to write a compelling mission statement.
• How to Maximize the Impact of Your Mission Statement (7 Ideas) If nobody listens, you’ve wasted your time. Once your mission statement is ready, your work has just begun. We now need to explore the work required to elevate the impact of your mission statement.

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See you in the next article,
Thomas