Mission statements are one of the world's most widely used management tools. Many management experts view an organization's 'mission' as the starting point for its strategic planning.  So let's try a pop quiz...  Does your company have a mission statement?  What is it?  Can you recite it - word for word? Can each of your employees?  Do you see a problem here?

Now perhaps you're asking yourself: Do I even need a mission statement in the first place?  The answer is YES! 

A well-crafted mission statement is a formal written document that identifies your organization's unique and enduring practices and core values.  It should make clear to you and every single employee what it is your firm is trying to accomplish and why customers would want to do business with you as opposed to your competitors.  Indeed, a great mission statement will guide the actions and decisions of everyone within the company and result in a more focused allocation of valuable time and resources.  More than two decades of studying business success and failure has proven to me that every company, regardless of size, must be able to articulate its mission if it's going to be victorious in today's competitive environment.

A mission statement should not to be confused with a vision statement. Vision statements are meant to inspire and describe a company's overreaching, long-term goals. Examples include WestJet Airlines's goal to "be one of the five most successful international airlines in the world" or Tim Horton's aspiration to be "the quality leader in everything we do." Visions usually take a long time to accomplish - often 10 years or more.  Mission statements express what the organization will do day in and day out to make that vision possible.

Simply having a mission statement does not however always ensure success.  Why not?  Quite simply, not all mission statements are created equal.  Some are fantastic, and some are really useless. To be truly effective, your mission statement must provide both specific guidance regarding the actions and behaviours of employees as well as bring about a more focused allocation of organizational resources. If this direction is missing, workers will fill in the blanks with their own interpretations of where they think their firm is going and then let those interpretations drive their own behaviours.  Employees that don't know exactly what it is they need to do to help their organization achieve its purpose and vision can't make effective contributions to it.  They won't be engaged and they won't feel good about themselves in terms of what they actually do.

Who should be involved in developing your mission statement and what should be the focus?  Input from a wide variety of stakeholders should be solicited, considered and incorporated.  Both formal and informal leaders must buy-in for it to be effective.  Every organization exists to satisfy - and ideally exceed - the needs of four key stakeholder groups, "owners", "customers", "employees" and "society at large". My research shows that the most effective mission statements clearly and succinctly zero in on what the organization strives to do for these stakeholders.  In doing this, beware of making it too long and having too many priorities or too short as it won't provide enough guidance.  Although there's no absolute rule about length, many good ones run 60 to 80 words. Halogen Software nails down their mission statement quite well.

Good leaders turn to their organization's mission, vision and values statements for communicating direction.  A company that is able to intersperse key phrases from its mission into daily work and conversations, will demonstrate that the mission is real and not just a flavour-of-the-month program.  In a 'mission-driven' organization, every decision, action and behaviour is linked to the goals and objectives contained within the mission statement.

So, take a look at your organization's mission with fresh eyes and ask yourself: Are we truly living our mission? If the answer is 'no', then try rephrasing it so that every key stakeholder will know the answer to the question that is always on their mind: "What is this organization going to do for me?" Once you do that in clear and simple terms and are willing and able to deliver it, you will have a highly successful organization pulling together with focus and commitment that will roll over those competitors who have not developed the same degree of commitment. 

Winners know the importance of being mission-driven!