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specialists in enhancement and management of human performance |
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For many readers, having a discussion in business about something as intangible as your mission may strike you as a non-sequitur. It doesn't have a clear relationship to the bottom line. Your business is run by humans, not machines, and humans, by design, respond to intangible thoughts and feelings. Uncovering the potent and meaningful mechanisms within you can provide the best motivation for you to produce outstanding and sustainable results. What if you, your employees and your customers were all motivated, even passionate about your product and your relationships together? Assuming you have good talent and good products that you believe in (another intangible), in a marketplace that needs them and at a good value, being "principle-centered" can be the key to separating you from the "pack." Having said that, let's briefly examine the magic of what motivates you, or anyone. According to Webster, mission is a continuing task or responsibility that one is destined or fitted to do or specially called upon to undertake. The synonym is a "calling." Your Higher Power has shaped your calling. Yeah, we just invoked a spiritual interpretation of your life and work. Greater Effectiveness With a clear mission, values, vision and passion, one's efforts take on a whole new level of effectiveness. The person pursuing their mission becomes fulfilled through their passion, creativity, love, motivation, and service. Others enthusiastically want to support and take part in it. But mission is hard to know. Let's explore a little psychology here. As creatures, human thought and action is motivated by survival of the species. We organize our lives (and work) primarily around physical and emotional survival, and the pursuit of our creature comforts. We can become deluded by our own ego and petty desires. When survival is assured and you are comfortable, you face a harsh choice: search out meaning and fulfillment, or become numb, greedy and uncaring. This mixed blessing (the ego) thinks that you need lots of stuff for your survival--beyond the basics of food, shelter, love and something to keep you busy. As time passes, it adds to the list, and its judgment is none too hot. But it prefers coming up with more stuff to "need" to tackling the Harsh Choice the human soul demands. A Spartan Life? I'm not suggesting you give up your business or any of your material possessions. But people tend to overdo it. My dad was convinced he needed a TV and a stereo in every room of the house, in the garage, in the back yard, and a spare or two. Recall the things, people, beliefs or procedures you thought were indispensable, only to recognize later that they weren't essential to you, or were counterproductive. We have created the material environment we live in to enjoy and work with in pursuit of our mission, but it can be a distraction. Making widgets could be a very cool thing, and in great demand. Knowing your mission is important, and to produce its results, physical survival is a necessity. "Man does not live by bread alone." Your work might best be enjoyed with a balance of meaningful direction. Oscar Wilde said "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." A poor third-world person has an excuse for not clarifying their mission: a real concern for their survival. You don't have their concerns. For us, the focus on survival and comfort brings loneliness, ill health, endless struggle and generates only brief moments of joy or satisfaction. It keeps you from marrying your inner Self with what you do in this material world. Self-defeating, huh? A Greater Purpose The soul's Harsh Choice asks you serve something bigger than yourself or your desires, or suffer emptiness. I'm going to propose a radical notion: take time from your pursuit of the "next thing" in life to define why that thing is (or isn't) important to you, your business, your life. Community service, charity, and the like are often found in one's mission. Making a difference or leaving your world a bit better isn't a bad place to go looking. What's right for you is a matter between you and your soul. The purpose your business or your life has might not even be reached in your lifetime (like Moses), or not in ways you or others could recognize, because a life mission is bigger than you. Perhaps your mission is to inspire another to do great work. Then again, what if your work altered the world? How would your clients, vendors, employees and community perceive you, your company and doing business with you if you were up to a purpose like that? Would they be more likely to spread the word about you? Can you begin to see how it is good business to be built on a foundation like that? Development, Learning and Time Knowing your mission will take time. You must search for this grail, and the pursuit of this grail will bring great reward. Note that many successful people have become major philanthropists. You will have more to give in your work and in your life, and people around you will provide support. They will recognize aspects of their mission in you. In pursuing your mission, the methods and focus of your business may change. You must empty your purse of dirt if you want it to hold gold. You must unlearn some of what you believe to be true, or what you think you need, to learn and acquire what you want. Your ego desires personal rewards and recognition, but these may not support your mission. Your business, work, and life may bring plenty of reward and recognition, fulfilling a higher purpose. The uniqueness you bring to your mission is not imbued with pride, but with a compelling, somber and humble sense of your destiny. You will selflessly learn, grow, and improve, allow others to contribute, teach and challenge you, to make sure your business benefits your clients, community and employees (they learn from you) as much as is possible and rational. You're treading in unfamiliar territory where your soul holds answers your business texts don't. The way you've lived and worked may not have prepared you for this path any more than grammar school prepared you for being a successful executive. You are integrating your mind, body, emotions and spirit into your work and your life. Could that be something you have yearned for? Your Purpose In The "Real World" You must obviously balance your needs and reasonable desires, with that of what your business needs to be viable, with the contributions you and your business make. You are a whole and complex person with concerns and commitments in a complicated world. You have built your life and your work over a lifetime, and integration of a new way to generate and manage it all won't happen in a day. It's unwise to make rash changes, throwing the baby out with the bath water. Do not wait for your mission to reveal itself--do something! The activities where you lose track of time are clues to your mission. Those things you have talent or extraordinary skill and passion for are potential signs. What qualities do they leave or indicate within you? A portion of your path is revealed in the opportunities that excite you, small miracles that occur, and chance meetings with people who "resonate" for you. Do your best to learn about why you are here, what your unique gifts are. Albert Einstein suggested that "The important thing is not to stop questioning." Continue to examine your actions, values, past decisions and beliefs. Choose your mission, the one that has chosen you. Your mission is bigger than an ideal job, a big bank account, the perfect mate, the accomplishment of goals, or acquisition of things. It is a life's work motivated by love and done by service: to bring more truth, beauty, health, happiness, service, abundance or perfection to the world. Nothing Left Out Begin today to redesign your business, work and life in a way that fulfills your mind and body and spirit. On that foundation, apply your business expertise and create your company so that it involves you, your staff, your customers and everyone around passionately and profitably. An executive coach can provide guidance on this journey, as well as being a valuable asset for your increased success. (NOTE: Allies Consulting offers several programs that can meet or exceed your expectations in this area; they are designed to deliver real results. They also leverage our other programs, magnifying your ROI!)
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"Power undirected by high purpose spells calamity...."
Theodore Roosevelt