An Elite Mission Part 2
Elite missions are driven by elite goals and high stakes. Leaders of elite missions look into 'ordinary' people to seek out the 'extraordinary' in them. It is based on the belief that extraordinary exists, and is achievable by anyone willing to rise to the challenge. Elite missions embrace the Laws of Engagement and always carry with them the possibility of failure...but not the fear of failure because 'belief in the mission' is its primary driver. Belief, the kind I am talking about, is only possible if it is personal, and personal belief is in very short supply in many companies...as their results so often reflect.
A good salary and career prospects are not enough. People need a bigger purpose to live for. People want to be part of something special that they can give their 'heart' to not just their skill. They want to believe in something that characterises them. To enable this to happen for every person at every level, a business must have an elite corporate vision and mission that is filtered through an elite team mission and defined by a personal mission that is fully aligned with the business.
The Corporate Mission
An elite vision for a company has an elite mission to customers. This is communicated and understood throughout an organisation calling for and relying on every person's highest engagement in executing the strategic plan. This is the decisive force that will set the company apart from competitors, giving it an unassailable and sustained competitive advantage. It will also create the platform to achieve its highest profit potential, but only if the mission can be translated into smaller elite missions where every team shapes their decisive role and every individual is challenged to be a part of. Only then will the Impact Zone become a reality for the organisation because everyone is fully and competitively engaged in achieving and benefiting from its corporate vision and mission.
The Team Mission
An elite team mission shaped and honed by its leader will be inspired by the company's vision and mission and will harness the unique contributions of each individual in the team for a 'cause' that is distinctly personal and highly motivating that will strategically impact customers and the company. It will be much bigger than any individual could accomplish on their own including the leader and bigger than the team itself, demanding significant commitment and synergy between each person within the team to accomplish it. This is how a team experiences the impact that a committed group of individuals can have on the future of their customers, their organisation and themselves.
The Individual Mission
The elite standard of the corporate and team missions is not an impediment to success but the reason for success because they help individuals find, define and express such meaning and purpose in their work that they are motivated to develop the 'strategic craft' that fully expresses their unique talent, innovativeness and entrepreneurial engagement. This is what drives strategy execution, impact on customers, growing profitability and growing earning power of employees at all levels. When people are brought face to face with the challenges and rewards of what they have taken on, they rise to the challenge; changing their thinking, habits, performance and future.
