Notice I left out the word statement in the headline. When a person or business creates a mission statement it should mean they are on a mission. It means they are doing. All to often the written words and the actions are different. Businesses sometimes take for granted the mission and put out some great fluff that sounds good from the legal team and corporate heads but the staff doesn’t take the time to even read. Or worse the customer doesn’t know who you are. When you decide to put your mission into a statement make sure:

• It is simple and easy to understand. Simplicity is best and while you can have a page of mission, the simpler you can make it – the more easy it is for your team to get it.
• You can commit to it every day and not merely words that sound good. All to often you come to a website where the company’s mission is to provide the best business product at the least expensive in the cleanest environment. Is this true? If not, maybe rethink this to cover one thing, and one thing well. The clean environment and the least expensive are all part of the one thing. Is it the best service? Is it the best product? What do you want your customers walking away and saying? That’s your mission.
• The mission is ingrained in your company’s culture and that the highest, lowest on the corporate ladder and all family members or employee’s in between can help achieve the mission and feel a part of it.
• Reflect your mission in your brand’s online and offline presence and it will become part of your brand. If you want to provide the best customer service for widgets, how does your website reflect that? Does it?

If you can enforce a good mission from within you probably won’t need an over-fluffed outward-facing mission statement. Customers will know and respect you by your actions. Your employees, website and marketing materials will show this. Having a mission isn’t about writing. Missions are about actions. Missions are about doing.