Company Blog

MISSION: POSSIBLE (AND NECESSARY)

by Adam Zack — October 15, 2015

Cornerstone To Success

A well thought out Mission (or Purpose) statement is something the world’s greatest companies all share. They live their mission and instill it in everything they do. It’s the cornerstone to success. It defines who they are and communicates it to their customers and employees effectively and succinctly.

Pop Quiz! Match the companies that correspond to these mission statements: Choose from the list below (correct answers at the very end, but I will be surprised if you don’t get 100%).

BMW, b. Google, c. Starbucks, d. In-n-Out Burger, e. DW Green Co,
Dorothy Lane Market, g. Nordstrom, h. New England Patriots,
i. Tiffany & Co., j. Southwest Airlines

To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

To connect People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.

To make our customers happy by providing Honestly Better® food and service — every time.

To be the world’s most respected and successful designer, manufacturer and retailer of the finest jewelry.

To provide outstanding service every day, one customer at a time.

To be the world’s leading provider of premium products and premium services for individual mobility.

[Company] exists to co-create Relevance, Meaning and Faith

To build a big, strong, fast, smart, tough, and disciplined football team that consistently competes for championships.

To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful

To serve only the highest quality product, prepare it in a clean and sparkling environment, and serve it in a warm and friendly manner.

The point is, to be really great you first need to identify your purpose for even operating a business. It’s not an easy task. It takes thought, collaboration and revisions. Then it takes dedication, communication and constant reinforcement. It also needs to be reviewed periodically and updated as your business evolves. I can say from personal experience that 99% of employees can’t tell you what your mission statement is. Probably 75% can’t even give a summary. And maybe 25% of you don’t even have a mission statement.

So here’s this week’s homework: Dust off your mission statement and decide if it’s still relevant. If it is, it’s time to reinforce it to your employees. Ask them to memorize it. Reward them when they do (Free sandwich for everyone who memorizes our Mission Statement and recites it to the store manager.) If it’s not still relevant or you don’t have one, let’s get the process started. We can help because we want to co-create relevance, meaning and faith for your store.

Answers: c, j, f, I, g, a, e, h, b, d