Call it over-simplification, but I think the following statement is absolutely true.

Most successes and failures are rooted in one word… “Mission”.

Do you know what the mission of your work/company/life is? Do you live it out every day? Does everyone on your team know what it is? Do they follow it?

Having a clear Mission is where it all begins. But that’s only half the battle. The real “mission work” is putting it first. Communicating The Mission and living it every day are the real challenges.

Honestly, I’m not sure I really know mine. I have a lot of “missions”, but if I’m being totally honest, I don’t have one clear, focused Mission.

More teams, companies, and relationships fail because The Mission that was previously the main focus of everyone’s efforts gets forgotten and replaced. Self-serving missions develop, and end up competing with The One True Mission. The Mission, gets replaced by my mission, his mission, her mission, and their mission. Relationships within the team become riddled with stressful conflict and confrontation because everyone is promoting and defending what they think is their, not our biggest priority.

So how do you go from “Mission Impossible” to “Mission Accomplished”?

The first thing to do is a one-time activity… Clarify The Mission. After that, it’s a constant, daily discipline. Every day, ask yourself and your team… “Are my/your/our actions all about putting The Mission first?” If the answer is no, it has to change.

The Mission is bigger than any one person, put The Mission first.