FOR A LEADER THE MISSION HAS TO BE PERSONAL

1.????????????A mission and its objectives are always articulated lucidly in the military for every member to have clarity about it. ?It is a definite standard to effectively managing organizations across the globe, be it military or corporate. Whilst the Vision defines where the Organisation wants to be after a certain time in the future, the Mission is How that Vision can be realised. Whilst focusing on this alignment at the enterprise level of a Military or Business Organisation, the teams with their team leaders actively contributing efforts, should actively engage with the mission. As it is the required action, to meet the Vision.

?2.????????????This action orientation mostly comes from the personality of the individual leading the team or department or section or let’s simply says a group of people with certain tasks or objectives to be achieved in an Organisation (size being less relevant). I share my learning of how making it a ?‘Personal’ quest ?& working towards focused alignment of ‘VISION with MISSION’ helps. ?

3.????????????All enterprises, companies or organisations’ define a ‘VISION’ ; The ‘WHAT’ and put in efforts to articulate the ‘MISSION’; The ‘HOW’, but the challenge is in bringing effective alignment between the two. But preceding this step is to achieve alignment with ‘MISSION’ first. ?A few steps which could help in that alignment applicable universally is highlighted below :-

?(a)???????????Performance Survey.????Have a mechanism to map previous performance with current performance and a road to take for future expected performance. It helps, as it gives direction to team members and the Leader has a baseline to gauge the performance of the team and its members.?

(b)???????????Reinforcement Learning.???????With high performance an expected norm, it becomes imperative to give guidance specifically where tasks are individualistic. More importantly giving time & space for individuals to perform, including leeway to make a few mistakes without penalty. This would build a culture of loyalty and commitment to the job and to the mission on whole.

(c)????????????One Level Up Training. ?Aspirational growth is inherent for career progress. Every individual is wired to seek it, why not take advantage of this aspect when managing people as a leader. Train them incrementally for responsibility one level up. This helps transfer of experience and keeps the individual motivated and committed to the job as there is scope for progress, catalyzed by learning about a job which is one level higher than the present. It stimulates performance. It requires effort on the part of the Leader,s in terms of time , but this is investing for the future into individuals towards benefit of the Organisation.

(d)???????????Speak About the ‘Mission’. Mentioning it on a powerpoint presentation or clipboard or a Kiosk isn’t enough, As a leader you talk about it each and every time you are committed to executing a task and how it is aligned to the mission and the overall vision. It has to be the ‘FOCUS’.?

(e)???????????Appreciate Effort.??????????It goes without saying, that a professional is best motivated when efforts are appreciated. Both team and individual effort. But very important is the context of the effort, which is seldom given ?cognizance. The effort applied and how it helped accomplishment of the task, which contributed, to the mission has to be contextually explained for individuals and teams to actively transact and associate with the process. Then we would be moving towards ‘MISSION ALIGNMENT’. ?

(f)?????????????Raising Bar for Individuals.???When Individual and Team effort contributed to the Mission, they must be given takeaways. These takeaways form a part of their professional experience and growth. Transcending all , it should give them a profound feeling , a connection that ‘ This is something I did & want to be remembered for’. As a leader be a precipice for all members of your team, giving them the feeling of being remembered. ?Every professional yearns for that feeling, this is part of managing people with a personal touch. ?

(g)???????????Make the Mission Personal. Make mission personal but also make people your mission. If you make people the mission, you are engaging a chord which goes way beyond professional boundaries. A team always has its code & order but by focusing on making that code & order ?‘Mission’ aligned goes a long way in meeting objectives. All it requires is good open communication at all levels, with professional mentoring, inputs & guidance.

(h)???????????Organisational Integrity First.?????????As a Leader have personal goals it’s a good thing, but never subordinate the Organisational goals to your personal goals. Work for alignment of the two, and demonstrate to your team , that you are aligned to the Organisation’s Mission & Vision. ?When that happens, team members will transact willingly. ?

(i)?????????????Gauge Performance towards the ‘MISSION’.???Goes without saying , when you establish metric for performance, it has to be with respect to performance towards Organisation’s ‘MISSION’. ?Ask this question are your metrics aligned to the mission & are you measuring performance w.r.t that metric ?

?The?takeaway for me was to do the ‘Right Thing’ and focus on what needs to be done to meet the objectives of a ‘MISSION’ as it will take you closer to your Organization’s stated ‘VISION’.

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As a Leader your personal mission is always the ‘PEOPLE’ in your team , As part of your team, You & Your ?Team’s??‘FOCUS’ is the ‘ORGANISATION’s MISSION’.