21 Day Practice of Capitalism – Day 3 – Mission
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
I am a mission oriented gal. I like to have a reason for being. Like this week, my mission is ground support for this start up business’ project in a remote location. Can’t say more – don’t want to tip their hand. But I have a reason to be here and feel needed. I remember in one of the few times I was ever employed, I didn’t feel needed. I think they hired me to fill a quota since I am a female aerospace engineer and they were a government contractor who needed to hire a certain percentage of female engineers. I had no mission there – I was wasting my life force being there.
Having a mission, fitting into something larger than myself, is for me a fundamental human need. I think it may be the same for lots of other people. Being an entrepreneur, it has helped me get and keep very talented people by creating and living a succinct mission. For the Accelerated Learning business I created – Cheetah Learning – our mission is “Cheetah students achieve their dreams at Cheetah speed by learning how to create and play their “A” game.” The mission shares the value we create for other people. Whereas the vision tells what, the mission starts telling the story of the ‘how.” As you can have lots of missions to fit a vision. For the Cheetah Learning company – the vision is “Cheetah students create more time, money, and opportunities FASTER than everyone on the planet.” Well how do we help them do that? Cheetah students learn how to play their “A” game.
This may seem like splitting hairs – however I’ve found getting really clear on my mission and how it helps actualize my vision creates more success faster. For my new project – the Inspired Eagle Eco B&B – I’m still working on a succinct mission statement – here is what I have so far: Deliver an eco educational bed and breakfast experience at our luxurious pristine wilderness property in Haines, Alaska.
Tomorrow I’ll share how I develop strategies to achieve my vision through my mission for various entrepreneurial efforts I pursue.