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2. Develop some guidelines for developing your mission and vision.
Mission and vision are concepts that can be applied to you, personally, well
beyond their broader relevance to the P-O-L-C framework. Personal mission and
vision communicate the direction in which you are headed, as well as providing some

explanation for why you are choosing one direction or set of objectives over others.
Thinking about and writing down mission and vision statements for your life can help
provide you with a compass as you work toward your own goals and objectives.
Your Mission and Vision
Note that the development of a personal mission and vision, and then a strategy
for achieving them, are exactly the opposite of what most people follow. Most people
do not plan further ahead than their next job or activity (if they plan their career at
all). They take a job because it looks attractive, and then they see what they can do
with it. We advocate looking as far into the future as you can and deciding where you
want to end up and what steps will lead you there. In that way, your life and your
career fit into some intelligent plan, and you are in control of your own life.
Guidelines
The first step in planning a career is obviously a long-term goal. Where do you
want to end up, ultimately? Do you really want to be a CEO or president of the
United States, now that you know what it costs to be either one? There are a couple
basic parts to this process.
BHAG
First, set out a bold vision—Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, describes
this as a BHAG a big, hairy, audacious goal.
Five guiding criteria for good BHAGs is that they:
1. Are set with understanding, not bravado.
2. Fit squarely in the three circles of (a) what you are deeply passionate
about (including your core values and purpose), (b) what drives your economic
logic, and (c) what differentiates you (what you can be the best in the world at).
3. Have a long time frame—10 to 30 years.
4. Are clear, compelling, and easy to grasp.
5. Directly reflect your core values and core purpose.
Values
Second, sketch out your personal values, or “Guiding Philosophy”—a set of
core values and principles like your own Declaration of Independence.
Schedule
Once the vision is set, you have to develop some long-term goal (or goals),
then intermediate-term goals, and so on. If you want to be President, what jobs will
you have to take first to get there and when do you have to get these jobs? Where
should you live? What training do you need? What political connections do you
need? Then you have to set up an orderly plan for obtaining the connections and
training that you need and getting into these steppingstone jobs.
Finally, you need to establish short-term goals to fit clearly into a coherent plan
for your entire career. Your next job (if you are now a fairly young person) should be
picked not only for its salary or for its opportunities for advancement but for its
chances to provide you with the training and connections you need to reach your

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