Everyone has at least 2 Missions.
Their team’s mission and their own.
The one they talk about and the one they don’t.
It could be that your own is so deep that you don’t know it’s there.
Or don’t want to admit it’s there.
Less like an elephant in the room, more like sand in the gearbox.
As a leader your challenge is to know both and manage the gaps between them.
Not just getting your team aligned to your stated mission, but being very clear that your own mission is also aligned…
You see, you might be able to convince yourself that you’re committed to the team goal, but if you’re not, then convincing the people who work closely with you every day maybe a different matter.
Especially over time.
Common examples are commitment to values based behaviors or environmental responsibility, or innovation.
Easy to say but harder to sustain if they’re not truly believed.
Especially when choices between cost or revenue or profit and the “mission” have to be made.
Or selection and promotion of leaders.
Or taking risks.
Or just telling the truth.
Over time the pattern of choices we make reveals more about our true mission than what we say publicly.
Which is why the struggle between survival and mission is a game all leaders play.
Only cartoon superheroes don’t experience doubts and gaps between their mission and their inner thoughts.
So don’t feel bad if you’re not perfect.
Learn to play the game.
Start by deciding what those missions are.
Then acknowledging the gaps or the conflicts when they arise.
Alignment isn’t about agreeing on everything, it’s about agreeing on enough things to steer a consistent path.
When your own mission clashes with the team, don’t pretend it doesn’t, just decide which one wins in that decision and you’ll know whether it’s consistent or not.
Over time, you’ll either steer that consistent path or you won’t.
At least you’ll know what your true mission is.
Without doing anything else, just knowing your mission improves your chances of achieving it.
If you don’t have a mission you’re just surviving.
“…the pattern of choices we make reveals more about our true mission than what we say publicly…”
Do you ever make decisions (or fail to make decisions) that conflict with your team’s mission?
Do you ever feel uneasy or troubled by that?
How do you deal with inconsistencies?
Do you know what your team’s real mission is?
The real one.
What you’re actually trying to do.
Not the nice hand crafted one on the website.
If you’re not sure (which is actually very common) one way to find out is to look back at the patterns of decisions you take, and what gets priority over time.
Are you happy with that?
What about your personal mission?
Is it love or wealth or security or promotion or something else?
Again, look back at your patterns of behaviors and decisions, and see honestly what gets priority over time.
That’s probably your real mission.
Are you happy with that?
What will you do if you’re not?
Can you align both?
You certainly can’t hide them.
.
.
“I might be wrong, but at least I’ve thought about it…”