This weekend, I watched my favorite pro football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, play poorly (again) and lose their second preseason game. And even though it was just preseason, and even though I know these games don’t count, I couldn’t help but flash back to a couple of years ago when my Chiefs were winning Super Bowls on the reg and seemed unstoppable.
Now, if you’re a football fan like me, you’re going to watch the Super Bowl whether “your” team is in it or not, which is why back in early February, my wife and I convened on the couch with plates full of Buffalo wings, potato salad, Greek salad, and rolls and watched–along with over 120 million other people–as the Seattle Seahawks dismantled the New England Patriots.
(Well, full disclosure, we watched the first half–long enough to see it was going to be a blowout–then switched over to Netflix to finish up Bridgerton, then flipped back over to watch the end of the game.)
Anyway, ever since this year’s Super Bowl, I’ve been thinking a lot about goals and the power they have to motivate people.
In the pre-game interviews and stories before the big game, the broadcasters always talk to the players about what playing in the game means to them. And these grown men often tear up and talk about how they’ve dreamed of this moment ever since they were little kids, throwing the ball around in the back yard with Dad.
You can see what it means to them to achieve the pinnacle (heh heh, sneaky Bridgerton reference there–IYKYK) of their sport. And you can see how having that dream in mind over the years has motivated them to put in all the work it took for them to get to this point.
Why is it Important to be Mission Driven?
That got me thinking about growing an educational consulting business (or any business, really).
Because (news flash!) building a business is hard work. And unless you have a vision or goal driving you, you’ll never work through all the inevitable challenges to achieve your dream business.
Now, lots of business gurus have written about this.
In their landmark business book, Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras talk about how nearly all highly-successful companies are guided by BHAGs (pronounced “bee-hags”), which is an acronym standing for “Big Hairy Audacious Goals.”
And business writer Mike Michalowicz, in his book Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself, talks about what he calls a company’s “Big BANG,” which stands for Big, Beautiful, Audacious, Noble Goal.
I don’t have anything against the occasional acronym, but I find these names to be a bit over the top.
For me, I’d just rather call it your Mission, so that’s what we’ll go with for this blog post.
But whatever you call it, you and your company need something to shoot for and something to guide you as you build your business.
Becoming Mission Driven: Step One
So, how do you determine your Mission if you’ve never articulated it before?
I think it’s best to start with a few brainstorming questions.
When it comes to your business, ask yourself…
- What’s your heart’s desire? Your goal needs to be something that’s not just an intellectual idea for making a living. It needs to be something that carries an emotional weight for you.
- What do you want to be known for? It’s sometimes helpful to future-pace things and think in terms of what kind of legacy you’d like to leave behind once you retire. Once you identify that legacy, ask yourself what your goal needs to be now in order for you to get there.
- How do you plan to change the world? In other words, what kind of impact do you want to make, and on whom? And don’t let that question scare you. It’s OK if you shoot to change some aspect of your world locally, not necessarily the world.
Answering those questions should give you plenty of material to work with.
Once you’ve completed this exercise, see if you can wordsmith that material down until you get it to a single sentence–or even a single phrase. The pithier, the better.
What Being Mission Driven Does for Your Business
Now, you may be wondering why you need a Mission. I mean, maybe you’ve gotten this far without ever articulating a guiding Mission for your business.
But there are good reasons for putting in the intellectual work to nail this down…
First of all, if you’re a solopreneur, a Mission serves as a focus and also as a motivator.
Let’s talk about focus first. There are so many shiny objects out there calling to your attention…
The world says, “Read this book. Take that course. Pursue that degree or certification.”
But if you have a Mission, it helps you filter out all the noise. Only those activities that contribute to the Mission should be considered. It’s like a cool set of shades that filter out the blinding light from all those shiny objects so you can see clearly.
And as you add people and begin to scale your consulting business, having a Mission also helps to align everyone on your team toward the same goal and acts as an energizing force to drive the work forward.
In fact, your company’s Mission should be the #1 factor you consider when hiring people for your team.
Sure, they need to be skilled in the areas in which you need help.
And sure, they need to be quick and willing learners.
But the main factor you should be looking for when hiring new people is how enthusiastically they can get on board with your company’s Mission.
You can teach them the skills they need, but it’s their enthusiasm that will carry them through the challenges.
So, if you haven’t yet articulated the Mission of your educational consulting business, there’s no time like the present.
Answer the questions above, then wordsmith the results until you can say it in one breath. And then start using it whenever you talk with people about what you do.
You’ll find it to be a great tool for focusing your efforts.
To Your Success,
Willy
P.S.–If you DO already have a well-articulated Mission statement, I’d love to hear it.
Or, if you didn’t have one prior to today, but you did the work described above and came up with one (go, you!) I’d love to hear it.
Just leave a comment to share.
