Be Your Own Missionary: Envisioning Personal and Professional Growth

From The Simple-Minded Manager, Cutting Through Your Work-Life Chaos

VERY FEW ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS are like Lewis Carroll's Alice, not caring much which way they are going themselves or the direction they are steering the organizations they lead. However, they may well appear not to care by their actions. We live and work in chaotic times. Personal and professional decision-making in such times requires seemingly contradictory premises: dogged adherence to continuous management process and openness to complex changes in the environments in which we function. Factors inside and outside our institutions produce cross-valent winds that buffet us in many directions every day. Growing more decisive management structures is the most daunting task facing leaders at all levels of governmental, civil and commercial organizations. Growing productive and satisfying life-scripts for ourselves in the contexts of these institutions is an essential goal for most people, a goal that each of us can achieve.

I use the word "growing" purposefully. Agrarian metaphors like "nurturing" and "shepherding" more accurately describe the strategic decision-making process to me than "constructing" and "building" architectural images or "manufacturing" and "assembling" industrial icons that are usually used.

So, which way ought each of us to go? Well, our friend the Cheshire Cat is still right. That depends a great deal on where each of us wants to go. It depends a great deal on our own personal missions.

What do we mean when we speak of mission? The word is rich and complex. Here are some of the connotations:

• A body of persons sent to conduct negotiations or establish relations with a foreign country.
• The business with which such a body of persons is charged.
• A permanent diplomatic office abroad.
• A body of experts or dignitaries sent to a foreign country.
• A body of persons sent to a foreign land by a religious organization...to spread its faith or provide educational, medical, and other assistance.
• A mission established abroad.
• The district assigned to a mission worker.
• A building or compound housing a mission.
• An organization for carrying on missionary work in a territory.
• A series of special...services for purposes of proselytizing.
• A welfare or educational organization established for the needy people of a district.
• A special assignment given to a person or group: an agent on a secret mission.
• A combat operation assigned to a person or military unit.
• An aerospace operation intended to carry out specific program objectives: a mission to Mars.
• An inner calling to pursue an activity or perform a service; a vocation.
• The word mission has all the inferences of: assignment, task, charge, purpose, sortie, duty, commission, goal, objective, calling, aim, lifework, and vocation. In our context, we usually speak of the mission of an organization, but it can also be applied to individual growth. But which way ought we each to grow. To paraphrase our friend the Cheshire cat, that depends a great deal on how each of us wants to grow. Knowing how to grow depends on an individual sense of mission. To achieve maximal professional growth requires each person to become a missionary. I ask each of you to become your own missionary: to articulate your inner calling; to define your specific objectives; to achieve your compelling goal. I ask each of you to become your own evangelist, apostle, teacher, pastor, herald, messenger and propagandist.

A friend tells a story about a Quaker missionary who was riding his mule thorough the mountainous Sierra Madre country of Mexico, and the mule was being obstinate. It balked often, threw the missionary off repeatedly, and bit him at every possible opportunity. The missionary, being of the Society of Friends, was unable to raise his hand against either man or beast, and put up with the mule's recalcitrant behavior with saint-like equanimity. One day, however, when the mule had been particularly obstinate, bitten the missionary twice, and threw him down a small precipice, he lost patience. "Friend mule", he said, "thou knowest that I am a man of faith, of the Society of Friends, and cannot strike thee. Thou also knowest that thy behavior has been beyond human forbearance." "But what thou does not know is that presently I shall sell thee to a Methodist, who will then proceed to beat the living tar out of thee!!!!"

Now this Quaker missionary is like most of us, striving to achieve a goal, while trying to live up to strongly-held values, and working under irritating and obstructive conditions. To become your own missionary you need to understand and articulate what links your goals and your values. If you do, even the most irritating and obstructive conditions will not deter you from pursuing your mission and accomplishing your long-term goals.

It is not that difficult! If you will ask and honestly answer four straightforward questions, and make most decisions according to the answers, I guarantee you a more productive and fulfilling professional and personal life. Here they are:

1. Who am I -- How do you define yourself personally and professionally?
2. What do I believe -- What priority values guide your career course?
3. What do I do -- What is your primary professional goal?
4. How do I do it -- What unique approach do you use to reach that goal?

Here is the hard part -- each of these questions must be answered in approximately seven words. Taken together these concise answers are your own Professional Mission Statement. Write it down. Carry it with you. Share it with your family, friends and colleagues. Most important, use your Mission Statement as your critical decision-making tool. When you are framing long- or short- term plans, ask yourself, "Does this strategy most effectively pursue my mission?" When deciding on an educational or career opportunity, ask yourself, "Is this choice the most consistent with my mission?" In setting priorities for daily activities, ask yourself, "Which of these alternative activities will most productively advance my mission. When dealing with personal issues, ask yourself, "Are my personal and professional goals consistent and integrated components of my overall mission.

Of course, articulating your own Professional Mission Statement is only one step in your decision-making strategy. Long-term planning is key. But you can't plan your journey without understanding your own personal and professional destination. So, don't be like Alice. Know where you are going, understand your own mission, and -- most important -- be you own missionary.

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