Mission

One of my favorite stories about having clarity of mission and a shared purpose involves JFK visiting Nasa (although, depending on where you read it, this story may or may not have actually happened. But it illustrates a great point.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited NASA for the first time. During his tour of the facility, he met a janitor who was carrying a broom down the hallway. He introduced himself to the janitor, then casually asked the janitor what he did for NASA. The janitor replied “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr. President.”

The point is that everyone at NASA, regardless of role, was on the same mission. They shared the same purpose. It’s a great thought process for any high-achieving organization. What are we all doing here? What is our mission? I think we all try and take care of the support people who help our programs on a daily basis - managers, equipment room, managers, and bus drivers. We want to make sure they feel like they are a part of the team. But do they know the impact they have on the mission?

When I was at Rhode Island College we used to host a big time recruiting event in our gym every year in February. It was always on a weekend when we played away so they could have the gym all weekend. One year we were playing up at UMass-Boston and a bunch of coaches I knew were in Rhode Island to watch the tournament. One of them was asking around to see if I was there, and he had a conversation with someone who worked in our equipment room.

Our equipment guy told him we were up in Boston but would probably be back by 6, we had a game. And he asked if we won the game, and our equipment guy was like “I’m sure they did. They are a championship team. You should see the way they play. They really compete for each other. They are very hard to beat.” He went on to talk about how much respect he had for our staff and players and how well respected our program was on campus.

When I saw my buddy he pointed him out and was like “I don’t know who that is, but that guy is definitely on board. He is all in on you guys.” That made me feel pretty good.

The mission and the purpose of your program should be shared by everyone involved with your team, even in a supportive role. Define what the mission is - what are you trying to accomplish - and make sure everyone knows it. And it should involve more than just “winning championships” because winning is a moving target. Of course we all want to win, but if your purpose is just a result it will be shallow. You can’t control the outcome, only what you put into it. Our guys talked about winning championships, but I reminded them the result depended on a lot of things out of our control. So when we talked about championships we talked about being at a championship level every day, not just winning or losing.

“Championship level, everything we do.” That became our mission. That’s what we were trying to do. And it was shared by everyone. You want everyone on board with what you are trying to do.

Find a simple and accessible mission for your program, that sets a high standard for all of your daily habits, and make sure everyone around your team knows what it is. A clearly defined mission for all is an integral part of elite, sustainable success.