Umm… Eva… That’s five examples of mission statements…
Funny, though–as I read the article, I was thinking about Starbucks. I recently read Howard Schultz’ start-up story, Pour Your Heart Into It: how Starbucks built a company one cup at a time. He’s huge on “mission” and values and culture, and that it’s the responsibility of the founder to implement his or her values into the company.
One unexpected take-away from the book: He practiced his “we’re worth your investment” speech 100 times before he “went for the big one,” the VC investment that would make or break Starbucks. Guy Kawasaki says to rehearse 25 times, and I thought THAT was a lot. (I have an interest in helping people be better public speakers–I usually tell clients to practice at least 5 times, and they often think that’s too much.
Good column–thx.