transcendent vision for your organization
you first have to have the courage to say
no to those things that divert your focus,
you have to have the courage to face your
current reality and deal with it – regardless
of the consequences, and then you
have to have the courage to build a dream
(Stanley, 2003). Saying no may include
discontinuing some activities and/or
ending some programs that obstruct or divert
attention away from the transcendent
vision. This takes courage and may have
consequences for your organization, your
staff, and your community.
Transcendence is the act of giving of
oneself to something greater or beyond
oneself. This is how we have meaning in life;
it gives us hope, and it outlines a purpose
for what we are doing. A purpose found in
something that is bigger than self. Maslow
agreed with Frankl and later changed his
hierarchy of needs and said, “The fully
developed (and very fortunate) human
being working under the best conditions
tends to be motivated by values which
transcend his self.”
Followers have needs that include the
need for a transcendent mission and vision
that gives their work meaning and purpose.
This starts with identifying a transcendent
mission for yourself – yes, a personal
mission. Once you have done that,
then you can use the same process to
build a transcendent mission for your
organization.
Identify your driving strength and
identify your 2 most important values.
This was discussed in the previous article
if you need more help. These are crucial to
articulating a personal mission that
connects with you and does not become
some elusive and idealistic nonsense. You
want this to be specific and meaningful –
not something that just sounds good.
What drives you? What fires you up?
Why does it fire you up? When you look at
your driving strength and look at your two
values you will most likely discover they
walk hand in hand. Together they describe
who you are and what is meaningful to you
and probably answer the three questions
in this paragraph. The next step is to write
your personal mission statement.
Laurie Beth Jones (1996), provides
a good example of how to do this in her
book, The Path. This is something that gets
revisited periodically to make sure it is
still relevant. This resource works for
both personal and organizational mission
statement development. Mission statements
should be short enough to
remember. Here are some examples of
good, short mission statements.
• Spreading ideas
• To honor and empower
wounded warriors
• Bringing clean, safe drinking
water to people in developing
countries
• We help moms have full-term
pregnancies and research the
problems that threaten the
health of babies
• To prevent and cure diabetes
and to improve the lives of all
people affected by diabetes
To create a mission statement (Jones,
1996), first:
1. Identify the cause
2. Identify the actions
3. Identify who
Your first attempt is not your last
attempt. This is something that gets
pondered and refined. If you guessed the
organizations represented in the mission
statements above were TED, Wounded
Warriors, Pure Water, March of Dimes, and
the American Diabetes Association, then
you would be correct. A good mission
statement should identify who you are and
what you hope to contribute.
Ask the following hard questions:
• What is the transcendent mission?
• How is it well-focused?
• How does it fulfill the needs of
followers?
How does it connect with my strengths
& values? (Or the strengths and values of
the organization.)
Creating a mission statement takes
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intentional work. Doing the work results
in a community that is engaged in the
organization’s mission and vision because
they identify with the strengths and
values of the organization and it articulates
transcendent and meaningful work.
Creating a personal mission statement
results in direction for your life that also
includes transcendence and meaning.
Purposeful leadership is a combination
of intentional skills that are practiced
and developed, leadership that is well-
focused through knowing ourselves,
knowing our values, and understanding
/IMC
