Entrepreneurial Leadership

Does this work matter? Is it consistent with my values? Does it have meaning

when team members believe in the mission of the organization, they perform better. Working alongside people who find meaning in their work is also more fun for everyone.

Kennedy encountered a janitor working quietly in a hallway and stopped to introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy,” the president said. “What are you doing?” The janitor replied, “Well, Mr. President, I’m helping put a man on the moon.”

Part of the job of an entrepreneurial leader is to formulate and articulate this mission so that everyone understands it, remembers it, and owns it.

Mission is the overarching objective the organization is trying to achieve. When I think about mission, I sometimes think of the phrase the officiant utters near the beginning of a traditional wedding service: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today . . .” The company’s mission answers this implied question: What have we gathered here to accomplish?

Values, on the other hand, are where you spend your money, your time, and your mind share.

One helpful way to think about developing your team’s mission, values, and tagline is to try to find phrases that succinctly and uniquely describe three things: What we do. How we do it. Who we are.

Claiming virtue as a mission risks cynicism. Mission

Mission statements should be short, unambiguous, and meaningful. Good ones leave no one guessing about what business the company is in.

Work hard to articulate a clear purpose, a desired end result, what winning looks like.

Differentiate between (1) your values—where you spend your time, money, and mind share, (2) your mission—what describes your unique purpose, and (3) your tagline—what your customers will see as your “promise” to them.

Extend this notion of mission to everything you do.

A man who chases two rabbits catches neither.

Too many of us make wishes—vague, adolescent hopes without sufficient power to change the trajectory of a life, a team, or a business. Goals, on the other hand, can be measured, are associated with deadlines, and come with an allocation of resources, an assessment of trade-offs, and a sense of accountability. Unlike wishes, goals produce meaningful results.

When I make goals, I imagine—in as much detail as possible—a winning outcome. The key is to imagine—with specificity—how the world will look upon achievement of the goal.

How would I describe success in a sentence?

The best goals share three qualities: They are memorable, aligned, and doable. I refer to these as MAD goals.

The best way to make goals memorable is to keep them short, imbue them with compelling emotional content, and make them measurable.

Alignment is the set of forces that get a team moving in the same direction. Goals are aligned when they are in keeping with core values.

Many people mistake tasks for goals. Goals are what you are trying to achieve; tasks are what go on a daily to-do list to work toward goals.