Mantras versus Mission Statements? How about a Passion Statement

In Guy Kawasaki's book Reality Check (as well as his blog), Guy talks about putting together a Mantra for your business versus a mission statement. He states simply that "A mantra is three or four words that explain why your product, service, or company should exist." He then goes on to discuss how painful it can be to develop a Mission Statement for your business. 

Guy gives a couple of great examples of companies that have mantras instead of mission statements such as Nike: Authentice athletic performance and eBay: Democratize ecommerce. 

While I think mantras are great and you need to have them, I think you also need somthing more. You need something to drive you and your employees to do their best each and every day. While eBay's mantra tells me as a customer essentially what eBay is at its core, the mantra would do nothing for me as an employee or the owner. You need something more. However, instead of a mission statement, how about a Passion Statement.

What is a Passion Statement? Well, what are you passionate about? Why are you starting your own business or working for your company? Being passionate about something is usually not a problem for people that are starting a business. Most people are so passionate about something that they usually go overboard when explaining what they are doing. Putting this down into a mission statement usually takes away all of the passion and excitement that your company has because you want it to sound "professional" and "important." 

What I would suggest is to put down exactly why you are doing what you are doing. Keep it personal, keep it passionate and most of all, keep it interesting. Good communication is all about keeping things human and personal. Don't create something that is so short or so bland that you lose that. Your Passion Statement should evoke to the person reading it how much you love doing what you are doing and make them want to get involved with you. Don't let your business suck out your passion. How you do all of this might take some time, but it shouldn't be work if you are truly passionate.

Travis

Comments

[Jan Schultink]

I am a big mission statement cynic (love the Dilbert mission statement generator). They are most of the time hollow, generic, fluffy and not bought into by all staff.

I can see how Kawasaki's mantra can keep all employees in a company in line, without getting into the touchy feely territory of the vision/mission statements.

I can see how a "passion statement" can really work in a smaller organization or a startup ready to conquer the world.

The challenge will be to get a larger corporation to accept it throughout the organization. (There are many cynics in the ranks of these enterprises). In McKinsey we used to say "client comes first" and really acted on that. (Giving the best you can for your client, but sometimes also foregoing that holiday for your client). Maybe that's an example of a passion statement that works.

But I suspect they are rare.

[Brett Duncan, MarketingInProgress.com]

I like the idea of a Passion Statement. Like Jan says, especially when you're small, your passion is your biggest differentiator, so you might as well clarify and communicate it to your customers.

So, what's your passion statement?

bd
@bdunc1

[Travis Dahle]

Our passion at Dahle Communication Group is to make communication more human. We want people to remember that when they are communicating they are talking to another human. Regardless if you are talking to 1 person or 1 million people - you are talking to another human being. When you do that, you can be successful in anything.

-That is our passion...what our mission is would be a lot different and I am guessing it would be dry and useless.

So, what's your passion statement?

[Turil]

For inspiration in choosing a passion statement, you might find the page "What's your philosophy?" useful which you can find here: http://www.thewiseturtle.com/yourphilosophy.html

I have several of my own passion statements, some for my personal life, and some for my businesses. One of business passion statements is that I want to encourage people to learn like scientists and live like artists. One of my personal passion statements has become "I am for you." Which I believe so strongly that I had tattooed on my chest for everyone to see. Though I do sometimes have to clarify that when I say "I" I'm talking about my consciousness, NOT my body (which is for my beloved husband). :-)

[Travis Dahle]

Thanks for the input Turil. I liked the design of your page a lot. I'll definitely send people your way...and I'm glad that there are a few people out there who believe in a passion statement.

[Turil]

You're welcome! I, too, am happy to hear about others who view passion as being important, in addition to the more technical aspects of one's mission.

[Jason]

You certainly are on to something with Passion Statements. A mantra looks good on a biz card, but a Passion Statement makes it all come together when your mantra is blah.

Your blog is a great read, by the way.

[Travis Dahle]

Thanks for the comments Jason - I appreciate it. I do like the idea of a passion statement. Most of the people I've worked with, especially those who own their own businesses, are very passionate about what they do and mission statements and even mantras seems to suck out the passion that people have.

Thanks again for the comments.