Dear Colleague :
This week’s blog topic focuses on the idea of a personal vision and mission statement. In class this week, we talked about corporate vision and mission statements, we talked about non-profit and mission statements particularly focused on social responsibility and sustainability, however we never touched on how mission statements relate to us personally. Why not? Should academia not also be focused on us as people? Think: Dr. Cheryl Lentz LLC, CEO and Owner. *smiles*
Our goal for this blog post is to focus on crafting our own personal mission and vision statements. We all know the benefits of SMART goals, and the need to set goals, and the no one plans to fail, they fail to plan adage, so why do so few take the time to craft a personal mission and vision statement? Think of this as the What’s in it for me plan for life!
I did. Several years ago, and every 10 years since, I revisit these statements. My purpose is to see if I’m on track with–well, my purpose and my expectations for what I hope to achieve in my life. When we often talk about the Baldrige criteria, we look at those award winning organizations that get it right. Their award is because there is complete alignment with EVERYTHING that EVERYONE does in that organization to fulfill the mission and vision statement. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Since we know the importance of these tools for the CORPORATE or BUSINESS space, why do we not bring these skills home for our personal space? Would not the same principles apply? Would this strategy not help us stay on point and on course throughout our life’s journey?
As an educator and business owner, my goal is to connect the dots from theory to application and from academia to business (and personal!). However, for whatever reason, we often tend to follow these principles BRILLIANTLY in our careers, but forget to apply to our personal lives. Herein lies an opportunity to change this outcome using the same tools we already have in our toolbox.
Thus, I ask again, what is your personal vision and mission? How are you doing so far? Where are you now in terms of where you once expected to be? Have your goals changed? Have you adjusted your course to get there?
Something to thing about today on a wonderful Friday afternoon.
Happy thinking and happy planning!
My best to your success,
Dr. Cheryl Lentz
The Academic Entrepreneur
