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long-term goals. The job that is superficially attractive to you because it has a high
salary, offers the opportunity for immediate advancement, or is located in a desirable
place may be a mistake from the standpoint of your long-term career.
Five Steps

Former business school professor, entrepreneur (founder of
www.quintcareers.com), and colleague Randall S. Hansen, PhD, has done a masterful
job of assembling resources that aim to help your career, including an excellent five-
step plan for creating personal mission statements. With his generous permission, he
has allowed us to reproduce his five-step plan—adapted by us to encompass both
mission and vision—in this section.
The Five-Step Plan
A large percentage of companies, including most of the Fortune 500, have
corporate mission and vision statements. Mission and vision statements are
[1]
designed to provide direction and thrust to an organization, an enduring statement of
purpose. A mission and vision statement act as an invisible hand that guides the
people in the organization. A mission and vision statement explains the
organization’s reason for being and answers the question, “What business are we in?”
A personal mission and vision statement is a bit different from a company
mission statement, but the fundamental principles are the same. Writing a personal
mission and vision statement offers the opportunity to establish what’s important and
perhaps make a decision to stick to it before we even start a career. Or it enables us to
chart a new course when we’re at a career crossroads. Steven Covey (in First Things
First) refers to developing a mission and vision statement as “connecting with your
own unique purpose and the profound satisfaction that comes from fulfilling it.”
[2]
A personal mission and vision statement helps job seekers identify their core
values and beliefs. Michael Goodman (in The Potato Chip Difference: How to Apply
Leading Edge Marketing Strategies to Landing the Job You Want) states that a
personal mission statement is “an articulation of what you’re all about and what
[3]
success looks like to you.” A personal mission and vision statement also allows job
seekers to identify companies that have similar values and beliefs and helps them
better assess the costs and benefits of any new career opportunity.
The biggest problem most job seekers face is not in wanting to have a personal
mission and vision statement but actually writing it. So, to help you get started on
your personal mission and vision statement, here is a five-step mission/vision-
building process. Take as much time on each step as you need, and remember to dig
deeply to develop a mission and vision statement that is both authentic and honest. To
help you better see the process, Professor Hansen included an example of one
friend’s process in developing her mission and vision statements.
Sample Personal Mission Statement Development
1. Past success:
o developed new product features for stagnant product
o part of team that developed new positioning statement for product
o helped child’s school with fundraiser that was wildly successful
o increased turnout for the opening of a new local theater company

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