Last month, we wrote about leaders focusing on the facts while mitigating emotional over-reactions. One of the solutions we put forward is to avoid reacting to reactions leading to losing focus on the real issue. Granted, there is plenty to react to. Ongoing hiring challenges, political chaos in Washington DC, continued economic uncertainty both domestically and globally, among others can be highly emotional issues. So much so that leaders can lose sight of the organization’s purpose!
Organizational purpose is typically captured in the strategic thinking process by senior leaders. We define strategic thinking as the collective vision, values, mission and strategy of the organization. While many businesses may not have all four created and/or documented, it is fair to say most will have a sense of mission, hence the tie back to the title of this article.
Mission statements are a high-level, tangible representation of what the organization does, for whom the organization serves and a macro-level how the organization does what it does. A mission statement is typically created after senior leaders conduct an environmental scan looking at the social-cultural, political, economic, and technological factors will impact their success. Additionally, senior leaders look at what internal capabilities and capacities provide a competitive advantage under these external conditions.
We have worked with hundreds of businesses both for-profit and non-profit, large corporations and small businesses exposing us to a wide array of mission statements. We have yet to see a mission statement that includes verbiage like, “Make 30% profit margin on global goods” or “Receive 20% of our funding from the federal government”. While these are clearly valid operational goals, they reflect a means to achieve the mission. In a VUCA business environment, they can also become the primary focus when conditions change and making the original goals no longer valid.
By focusing on the organization’s mission, senior leaders are prompted to think differently about how they can achieve their mission. Looking at diversifying revenue and funding sources, for instance, can have positive effects even under adverse business conditions. It helped a small business owner recover from losing 75% of their revenue on one contract cancellation. It helped a non-profit survive a recession when 55% of their funding came from a single government grant. Leaders must think different to do different!
In a VUCA business environment, it is all too easy for senior leaders to react to adverse conditions by focusing on the impact to operations. However, when this happens, there is a slow disconnect between their decisions and the focus on the overall mission. Keeping the mission front and center provides the correct context for how they navigate current conditions and create sustainable success!
How are you focused on your mission and purpose? If you’re not sure,
we can help!
Lead well!
