WRITE YOUR VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT
Formulating a personal vision and mission statement for your project management practice is an important step in becoming more successful at what you do because it articulates your aspirations and ambitions. A vision and mission statement expresses, in just one paragraph, who you want to be and what you want to do and have as a project manager. It also functions as a measure of your success in reaching those goals. If you have a vision and mission statement, it is much easier for you to direct your development plan and understand which capabilities you must strive to enhance and which behaviors you need to change.
A vision and mission statement encapsulates the essence of what you want to achieve and how you want to present yourself. It states your intentions, summarizes your values, and demonstrates your commitment to living up to these values.
A vision and mission statement should reflect your values, vision, goals, and purpose. It is really important that you feel excited and inspired by it. When you read it aloud, it should make you feel good and compelled to live by it.
Exercise: Composing Your Vision and Mission Statement
1. Answer the following questions as honestly and with as much passion and commitment as you can. The answers will help you compose a vision and mission statement of your own.
• What personal qualities do you most want to emphasize?
• How can you use and display these qualities in a working environment?
• What are the most important values you want to express at work?
2. Visualize yourself five years from now. Imagine that you are managing and leading the project of your dreams. Envision that everything is exactly the way you want it to be: the type of project you are running, the industry it is in, its size and complexity, the people involved, and your own capabilities and confidence as a project manager. Imagine that you are every bit as successful as you want to be. Feel it and see it.
Use the space below to draw a picture of yourself and your surroundings five years from now. Draw the things you see, feel, and hear. Use as many colors as you want.
3. Keep imagining yourself in the future, and be as specific as possible in your observations. Where exactly are you? What are you doing? Who are you talking to? What does the project look like? How big is it? How complex is it? How are you feeling? Why do you want to be exactly where you are? Add more detail and descriptive words to the illustration.
4. How would you sum up your vision and mission as a project manager? What are the things you ultimately want to achieve? Who do you want to be? What do you want to do?
5. What will need to happen in order for you to feel proud of your progress as a project manager in five years’ time?