He talked about the hopes he had for the company and how we were the back bone of its success, yada, yada, yada. And then he said, “What we need is a mission statement, something we can stand for, something we can believe in.”

One brave soul in the room (it wasn’t me) raised his hand while pointing with the other to the banner that hung across one wall of the room, “Sir, isn’t that our mission statement on the banner?”

In fact, it was a mission statement we’d had for quite sometime.

The new president didn’t miss a beat. “Oh that.” He said dismissively. “No I mean something that you can sink your teeth into like ‘sales cures cancer'.”

Aside from being unbelievably insensitive, he was also publicly dismissing all that we, the back bone of the company, had been told to believe in and work toward.

Mission statements are tricky things. If all they are is a lot of impressive phrases, then it’s difficult to live up to.

But what about a mantra? Webster’s defines a mantra as “a mystical formula of invocation or incantation.” In other words, something short enough to memorize and say over and over until you own it in your heart.

As an example, the mission statement for NIKE might be “the NIKE Company exists to…” However, their mantra, a memorized statement for employees, might be “authentic athletic performance.” It’s short, sweet and says who they want to be for their customers: each and every time with each and every product.

As a writer for businesses, my mission statement might include words like professional, capable, creative, and effective. Boring, right?