How to Write an Effective Mission Statement

(Mondays are Lynn Miles Peisker days at The Daily Blur. Lynn’s the Executive Sister and Chief Plate Spinner at the Imagination Advisory Group. Check out her growing archive of posts here.)

“I want to change the world in a positive way.  And I want to have fun doing it.”

–       Sean “Diddy” Combs to Barbara Walters on The View, Friday, October 4, 2013

I never thought I’d be pointing to Sean “Diddy” Combs as an example in anything.  No offense.  I just don’t know that much about him.  But when I heard him say that as I buzzed through my DVR’d episode of The View, (don’t judge me) it stopped me in my tracks.

Want to know why?

It’s a freakin’ awesome mission statement.

Does your company have a mission statement?  Can you tell me what it is without looking?  Is it a reason to get up in the morning?

Sean “Diddy” Combs has a mission statement.   It’s short.  It’s to-the-point.  It’s effective.

He wants to change the world.  In a positive way.  He wants to have fun.  While he is doing it.

You know what?  I get that.  I understand what it means.  It’s a statement that his 1,000 employees (yes – SDC is an owner/operator of his own corporation) can rally behind.

Do you want to write an effective mission statement for your organization?  Here’s how:

1. Ask your employees why they do what they do and what they love about it.
2. Combine their answers in a concise, meaningful statement.
3. Make it as specific as possible, eliminating generic terms such as “solutions.”
4. Make it as lean as possible, eliminating unnecessary words especially empty adjectives like “great”.
5. Run the finished statement by your team and ask these two questions:
   1. Does this accurately reflect what you want our company to do/be?
   2. Can you easily repeat this mission statement from memory?

If they answer yes, then you are good to go. Add it to your website.  Make posters for the break room.  Print it in your email signature.   If your employees answer no, then you are not there yet.

This might help. 

Keep after it, because we are all on a mission of some sort.  Even Sean “Puffy” Combs. And if he can verbalize his mission, so can you.