Who is our mission statement for anyway?

I wrote this a few years ago, I don't rember if I shared it then, but it does bare repaeting.

           A few weeks ago I was sitting in a class aimed at showing Fire Chiefs the best methods to navigate through the political minefields we’ll all face at one point or another. The class was being put on as part of an overall thirteen week program and the instructor for that day was in his fourth decade of public service in one form or another. As the instructor went on we drifted to the topic of mission statements. It was his belief that they were essentially a waste of time. He felt that the customer, in our case the public, didn’t understand or really care for that matter as long as they got what they needed when they needed it. As I sat there I thought to myself that he was kind of missing the point. Then I realized that maybe most people felt the way he did. I believe in mission statements just as I do vision statements, but in part I do agree that the public on the whole probably doesn’t understand or care for that matter. So why do we write them? The answer is, for us. Most people reading this have probably spent a few years on the job, you may even have a few grays hairs to prove it, or if you’re like me, more than a few. In any event I’m sure that most of you would agree that as a profession, the fire service can be a bit cynical at times. There are times when we tend to get sidetracked by things outside of our control. “City Hall doesn’t like us, the Schools are getting this, can you believe the deal the Cops got”. We’ve all been there and done that and as we move up on the food chain we realize it’s counterproductive. This is where the mission statement comes in. Your mission statement is hopefully a collaborative effort between administration and folks on the floor. It is important to involve them because they are the ones carrying out that mission. Once you have completed the collaborative effort it should be published so it can be readily seen. Ours is going to be placed in very conspicuous places for all to see during some upcoming station improvements. You may ask “why is this important”. Well when we get sidetracked we have something to bring us back and remind us why we are here. A wise Captain told me once that if he has the mission statement posted on the floor he can point at it when the grumbling starts and ask “Does it fall in our mission? If not, I don’t want to hear about it”. Now obviously we might need to be a little gentler in our approach, but the reasoning is sound. If we are working toward our mission the stuff we can’t control shouldn’t get in the way. Now if it was a collaborative effort when writing the mission statement, how can anyone argue if they helped develop it? Before I became a Chief Officer I spent a considerable amount of time teaching in the private sector, and the most successful companies had their mission statements published where everyone would see it, even the ones who didn’t have their customers walking in or out. Sometimes we all get frustrated, chiefs included, by being able to look at our mission we can bring ourselves back to our happy and productive selves.