4 Reasons You Need a Mission Statement For Your Career
When I first transitioned into sales leadership I was given the advice to build a mission statement for myself and for my team. At first I was confused by this, what exactly did that mean and why would a mission statement be important? I had heard of company mission statements, but one for myself? That was new territory!
I sat with this advice and decided to do some research and journal about what I found. The research surfaced words like:
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Purpose
Goals
Vision
Direction
Commitment
Accountability
The words struck me as powerful and challenged me to think very deeply about why I exist, what I was trying to accomplish, how I planned to motivate myself and my team and how I'd stay on track with my goals. Below I'll share with you the first mission statement I crafted back in 2017.
Mission Statement
My purpose as Manager of Account Management is to set a positive example for team members to emulate and look up to. While also providing the team with training, best practices, guidance, motivation and constructive feedback to help them achieve their peak professional performance. Resulting in meeting or exceeding quarterly retention percentages, up-sell quotas and professional growth and development.
Q2 Goals:
Team Confidence
Forecasting Improvement
Storytelling
For me personally, this provided 4 really important things:
I revisited this mission statement and goals every Friday and continue to do so. I block off one hour before signing off for the weekend to audit where I spend my time and how much of it was aligned to the statement and goals. There are weeks when I'm on track and others where I let the distractions and goals of others take priority. When that happens, I use my Friday reflection time to re-set. I build blocks into my calendar the following week that hold me accountable to the goals I know I need to be working on.
As sales professionals we have a million tasks and priorities we could be focusing on and countless distractions starving for our attention. A personal or team mission statement and quarterly goals help provide a north star towards your most important activities.
It's important to note that mission statements can and should evolve over time. As you grow, so will your mission statement and your goals. I revisit my professional mission statement on a bi-annual basis and my goals on a quarterly basis.
If you need help crafting a mission statement, don't hesitate to reach out! You can also Stay in Touch and sign up for our monthly newsletter and receive our free "Crafting Your Mission Statement" worksheet.