Why do 'Men on Mission' deliver?

We identify a few people as crazy people. Their craze is the mission they chase. Crazy people write history. Why do these crazy people deliver the result? Why do they achieve what others don't? What is the source of their energy? What are their tools? What are their methods? They are the men on mission. (The term is used for both genders) 

We see a lot of people with clear goals in their life. They are clear about their objective and try to pursue that goal sincerely. But they fail in spite of having required resources and a team, in repeated attempts. Some people succeed in their goals in spite of all the odds, with little resources and sometimes against giant competitors. Why?

A goal is the desired result. A mission is the purpose of existence.

Goals are desires, the mission is a compulsion. Some people are the men on mission. They scale up their goals; they convert their goal into their mission. The difference lies in the level of commitment and the gravity of the expectation.

When a desire develops into a self-imposed compulsion, a goal becomes the mission

A mission is stronger than goals. It is more intense. Liking develops goals but a mission is driven by passion. By definition, a passion is a strong and uncontrollable emotion. The DNA of passion makes mission so strong and uncontrollable. Goals can be reviewed, revisited, modified, revised or radically changed. The mission can't be changed.The mission is very stiff and stubborn.

A goal is an orientation, the mission is an attitude, deeply rooted.

A goal is a smolder, a mission is a fire hence it is wild. Goals can let you take rest, mission always keeps you awake. Once you set goals you feel relieved because goals are specific, measurable and achievable in a certain span of time. They are time bound. A mission can only be achieved by breaking it into a set of goals. By doing this you can pacify the fire.

Goals can be transit stopovers, the mission is the final destination.

A goal generates another goal because it is time bound. Mission has no expiry. It takes longer to achieve the mission. In the case of goals, you can show the progress and justify the optimum level of achievement.

Managers set goals, leaders set mission

Goals are operational hence managers set them. The mission is strategic, hence leaders deal with them. Goals form a chain. The mission is a hook. The existence of the organization is hooked to the mission. When you achieve any goal it becomes a hygiene factor. It doesn't excite you further. You look for another goal. Thus goals always come in a bunch. The mission is always single. It excites you for life. It is a strong hook and a person gets clung to it. It always remains fresh and keeps the person fresh.

The mission is always binary. It can take only two values, 'accomplished' or 'failed'.

The leaders are identified with their mission. They virtually die when their mission gets accomplished. Do you know whether Niel Armstrong is still alive? We know, he was the first man who walked on the moon.What happened to him after he accomplished the mission? We don't know.

The mission is the goal at the gunpoint.

The mission takes sweat & blood. Goals are set by brains. A mission is set by the heart. Goal shows eagerness, mission shows desperation. Goals need a strong contribution in terms of systematic and consistent efforts with the required resources. A mission also needs it but it goes beyond.

A mission needs contribution and sacrifice.

The terrorist like attitude Men on mission have terrorist like attitudes. For them their mission is everything. They don't really care for the leadership position and the authority. They take up the responsibility themselves and trade-off the authority for the accomplishment of their mission.

For the men on mission, the mission is larger than the leadership.

Neither Bill Gates nor Warren Buffet is CEO of the organization. They have delegated the authority to competent leaders but retained the ownership of their mission.

For men on mission, the mission is sacrosanct. They don't let even their self-interest interfere with their mission.

Goals need sweat to achieve it, a mission also needs sweat but it can't be accomplished unless people sacrifice. Men on mission sacrifice many things to achieve their mission.

Goals are difficult but a mission is near impossible.

The mission is the purpose of life. For the men on mission, their mission is their life. It is their identity. They are born for it, live for it and they get out of the public life once they accomplish their mission.

Mission provides the energy For the men on mission, their mission provides them the energy. They draw their energy from their mission.

Leaders use the mission as a convex lens. They generate energies through mission

Look at the picture given here on the left. It is a science lesson which we did in our schools. When we hold a convex lens, at a specific distance from the paper, the rays emitting from the sun would converge to a specific point on the papers and within a few seconds, the paper starts burning. The leaders know that their mission is like a convex lens. It concentrates the resources on the task and the task gets accomplished. The stronger lens produces fire faster. Similarly, a stronger mission is required for achieving the desired result. Leaders know very well that only concentrated efforts would produce the results.

Mission catches cosmic energy and focuses it on the target to produce the result;

like the lens catches the solar energy & focuses it to produce fire. The men on mission know very well that they need not waste time in worrying about the resources. The resources follow. Resources are like solar energy, they are in abundance but scattered and required to be focused using the lens called mission.

The man who saw tomorrow A man on mission is 'a man who saw tomorrow'. They can clearly see what others can't. In management cliche, it is called 'Vision'. Our management professors refer to such leader as a 'visionary'. They can see how the world would look like after their mission gets realized.

The tools of men on mission They only have two lenses, convex, and conclave. They do magic with this tool. They create fire with a convex lens and see tomorrow by placing convex and conclave lenses together.

Galileo Galilee made the first refracting telescope for space study, in 1609. He discovered the four largest of the moons orbiting Jupiter. Galileo also used his refracting telescope to map mountains and craters on the surface of the moon, confirmed the phases of Venus, observed and analyzed sunspots, and discovered that the Milky Way, thought at that time to be nebulous, was actually a multitude of stars packed so densly that they appeared to be clouds to the naked eye.

Galileo could see objects 20 times smaller than the human eye could, using a telescope. (Credits: https://www.fortworthastro.com/beginner5.html). Galileo was a man on mission. He saw tomorrow. He was hanged to death for rejecting the claim that the Earth is flat. He was the first human to see the round earth.

Method of the men on mission They create & lead energies. That is their method. They inspire people by giving them the mission. They charge people using the cosmic energy. People follow the men on mission and provide them the energy.

Moral of the story. Men on mission deliver because they have a strong commitment to their mission. They live & die for their mission. They worship their mission. If they have to choose between the leadership and the mission they choose their mission. Such strong sense of commitment develops terrorist like attitudes within them. They become fearless, they develop desperation. Men on mission know that the mission is binary. It can only succeed or fail, there is no midway. Hence they leave no stone unturned. Their tool is two lenses, convex & concave. With convex lens, they gather resources and focus them on their mission. With concave lens, they see what others can't. They become visionary and see the future, wherein their mission becomes a reality. Men on mission are not really worried about the resources. Their real resource is the cosmic energy. They know other resources follow. Their method is simple. They create and lead energies. People give them energies which are the real resource of the men on mission.

About the Author: Prof Dr Ajit Patil was awarded 'Top Voice on LinkedIn - 2017'. He is a Management Writer; Marketing, Business Development & Retailing Consultant. He conducts Management Development Programmes; trains & coaches Sales & Marketing teams. He has been teaching MBA students in India & overseas for over 18 years. He can be reached at [email protected]

Patils at California Pizza in Atlanta, USA, in October 2017

Standing: Jayant Patil (younger brother), Arti Patil (wife), Supriya (daughter)

Sitting: Anuradha Patil (sister-in-law), Self, Nishant Patil (Nephew)