Fraser SeitelFraser Seitel

“Our mission is to conduct all of our businesses, both energy and financial related, with four key values in mind; respect, integrity, communication and excellence. All business dealings must be conducted in an environment that is open and fair.”

Guess whose mission statement that was?

The answer lies (literally!) at the end of the column. No peeking!

Every organization, small or large, rich or poor, profit or non, has a mission statement. Most also have vision statements as well.

In many cases, such statements are big, fat wastes of time, the spouting of pie-in-the-sky pabulum that the authoring organization is utterly incapable of emulating. Again, no peeking!

But mission statements — and vision statements, too — can be eminently helpful in defining the values and priorities of an organization and focusing internal publics on the direction their efforts should follow, and external publics on the reasons why they should buy the organization’s products, contribute to its causes or support its efforts.

In other words, mission and vision statements, executed with thought and purpose, can be of great worth to any organization. And public relations professionals must be the ones to take ownership for creating meaningful missions and visions.

Now how do you do it?

The first thing to understand is that a mission statement explains who the organization is, which markets it serves and what its overall goals are. For example: “Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”

The vision statement, on the other hand, is aspirational, focusing on the potential inherent in the organization’s future and what it would like to achieve in the mid-and-longer term. For example: “the vision of the San Diego Zoo is to become a world leader at connecting people to wildlife and conservation.”

The second thing to understand is that the mission statement — which should be the organization’s key descriptive document — must answer at least six questions:

Is it relevant?

The mission should emulate what we are doing and capable of today. The mission of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, for example, may sound grandiose but is perfectly relevant to MoMA’s role in society. “To collect preserve, study, exhibit and stimulate appreciation for and advance knowledge of works of art that collectively represent the broadest spectrum of human achievement at the highest level of quality, all in the service of the public and in accordance with the highest professional standards.”

Is it realistic?

In other words, can we honestly claim this to be the case? For example, Starbucks’ mission makes real sense: “to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”

But AOL’s mission, especially in light of the company’s celebrated problems over time, isn’t particularly realistic: “to simplify the internet for consumers and creators by unleashing the world’s best builders of culture and code.”

Is it attainable?

In other words, can we get to where we say we’re aiming? Amazon.com, for example, has a mission and vision that say the same thing for good reason. “It’s our goal to be Earth’s most customer-centric company where customers can find and discover anything at Amazon.com.”

Anyone who has dealt with Amazon — and most of us have — are more than willing to accept this statement as “attainable.”

By contrast, anyone familiar with the steadily declining fortunes of beauty company Avon would find its mission statement laughable: “We will build a unique portfolio of beauty and related brands, striving to surpass our competitors in quality, innovation and value, and elevating our image to become the beauty company most women turn to worldwide.”

Is it specific to us?

Are we the only ones, in other words, who can claim this identity? A good mission statement is discrete to the organization creating it. For example, an early Nike mission statement ready simply: “Our mission is to crush Reebok.”

And they did.

By contrast, the opening line in the Barnes & Noble mission statement exposes a bewildering lack of specificity: “Our mission is to operate the best specialty retail business in America, regardless of the product we sell.”

Is it measureable?

By “measureable,” we don’t necessarily mean analytically evaluating the statement but rather determining that the statement is, in a general sense, provable. For example, Ben & Jerry’s mission is: “To make, distribute and sell the finest quality ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural elements and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the environment.”

All of which, the company does.

Can we bring it to life?

Does the mission statement reflect what we exemplify in our daily actions? In other words, “is this really us?” Like for instance, the mission of the Star Trek Enterprise: “To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

The best mission and vision statements, in other words, reflect accurately the treatment people receive when they deal with our organization. On the other hand, when an organization falls short of what it claims to be, its mission statement often is the best proof that the organization, itself, is suspect.

Which brings us back to that mission statement above, extolling the virtues of a company founded on “openness and fairness” in all its dealings. The company who boasted that lofty mission was none other than the bankrupt commodities giant whose entire corporate structure was built on massive fraud, Enron.

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Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, author and teacher for 40 years. He may be reached directly at [email protected]. He is the author of the Prentice-Hall text The Practice of Public Relations, now in its 12th edition, and co-author of Rethinking Reputation and Idea Wise.