The mission statement

This image is from the Mission Statement page of SDC Construction Services -- a Portuguese company that has successfully expanded internationally, with U.S. headquarters in Miami.

So here I am, on Christmas night, in a quiet hotel lobby in Montreal, suddenly realizing that it is indeed time to define the business mission statement.

My influence: A truly influential book, The Secret Language of Leadership by Stephen Denning. Randy Pollock, editor of the SMPS Marketer, sent the book to me as a gift -- it arrived in the mail on Dec. 24 and went into my 'reading bag' as we started our brief Christmas vacation in Montreal.

The Mission Statement has been on the Action List since last year -- every time the due date for this project comes up, I've pushed it back; feeling in my heart that a Mission Statement is corporate gunk-talk; stuff for the people sitting around the table at endless meetings, not really knowing where they are going; or at worst, is platitudes and corporate-speak, designed to sell the business to itself -- and create a mirage image for the public.

But maybe I've had it wrong all along. Have I really thought about WHY we are in business; what our deep objectives are; and what we want to accomplish -- or do we just have a product, a market, and a sales methodology that sort of works, without respecting its implications in the marketplace as a whole.

And maybe the problem is that our existing Mission Statement is okay, but it came from the heart of someone no longer with the business, and is something I just paid lip-service to:

We are the Construction News and Report Group of Companies

We help to secure the ties that bind old and new relationships.

We provide word-of-mouth recommendations in print.

We work as a team to help strengthen your team.

Hmm, not bad, I think, now reading this. But where is the stuff that reaches my heart -- the passion, the desire for good journalism, the objective to build and enhance communities and correct problems and injustices? Where is the guidance, the support, the will to help the subcontractor struggling to find work; or the architect battling to find a place in the marketplace against overpowering competition. (Or, for that matter, how do these values relate to the well-run and successful corporation where solid business practices combine with practical understanding of the business to overtake the competition and succeed in virtually any market environment?)

Maybe I am ready to generate a more meaningful Mission Statement. Let me try this one on for size:

We are the Construction News and Report Group of Companies.

We support communities in the construction industry in achieving ethical growth.

We uplift individuals and businesses in achieving marketing insights and success.

We help to secure the ties that bind old and new relationships.

I'm not sure if this is the right statement; we will need to bounce it around; refine the message, think about the implications, and how it drives our passion. I would like to put more heart, more soul, more spirit into the mission statement.

So why is this so important all of a sudden? Well, I realized in a flash of insight tonight that I risk running a rudderless business, where our salespeople are working for money rather than a larager purpose-- where we are looking for short term objectives rather than long-term values; and I simply realized this won't take us to where we really want to go -- to be a business with international scope, leadership, and quality.

Leadership, says Denning, requires a passionate purpose -- you need to have something meaningful to lead before you can achieve much of significance. Just pushing out our papers (and websites) won't achieve this value. Just 'doing the job' won't achieve the higher level of meaningful accomplishment and greatness to differentiate us from all the other regular businesses out there. And I simply don't want to accept 'okay' as an answer -- good enough is, here, not good enough.

I want to share something beyond business as usual -- to communicate hope, adventure, love and respect. To help people work together; to bring communities to a richer space; to give the industry the tools to grow; to allow the entrepreneur to weather economic storms; to foster understanding and honor; to battle cynicism and blatant greed and hypocrisy. Most importantly, I want to elevate and honour the unsung heroes of our community; the subs who toil in the shadows; the consultants who live behind the scenes and help the big guys do their stuff so well; and yes, to the ethically run and well managed larger businesses who fuel the overall industry and have the capacity to handle the largest and most significant projects.

Now, I just have to boil these thoughts into a meaningful mission statement -- and that is going to take some work in the next few days. I certainly welcome your input.