TG-IT’S AFTER A HOLIDAY!

Most companies have “mission statements.”  Most suck.  Big time.  They have no meaning and are stiff, dirty, dusty.  Then again some companies ARE stiff, dirty, and dusty.

Example of bad mission statement:

We strive to offer excellent customer service in a great work environment to bring profits back to our investors.

Joel, that IS why we exist right?  I mean… that is our mission is it not?   NOT REALLY.

Because of WHY we exist we naturally offer service so good customers become our biggest advertiser, people that love what they do and don’t ever want to work anywhere else (even when the job is hard sometimes) and because of WHY we exist the company makes money.

A great mission statement purpose statement is WHY we exist.

It closes the circle of who Drexel is.  The WHO we are is are core values.  The WHY we are collectively is what drives us.

The culture club and a few others advised and reflected on what our “purpose is.”  We read books like “Burn your Goals” and “Mindset” and many more in deriving our vision.

OUR PURPOSE STATEMENT: 

A SUPPLIER OF OTHER PEOPLE’S HAPPINESS.

For all of us… as long as their is Drexel this is our vision and purpose as a team.

Breaking it down… we are a supplier (we supply things so it has a double meaning.)… when we say “other people’s” we are talking about the golden rule.  (treat others like you would like to be treated)… people’s happiness…makes someone’s day brighter…a teammate, a client, a trade partner or someone in the community.    We wanted to say A supplier and not THE SUPPLIER or WE SUPPLY because we know we are just one part of a person’s day and saying we supply happiness, is pretty arrogant or even worse cliche, there are tons of ways to supply happiness, we realize we are one of the ways through what we do here.

That’s it.  That’s who we are.  I’ve been using this as my daily compass as to who we want to be for the last month or so.  It’s been a change for me.   It’s like having a northern star to follow in a dark sky.

As a growing company, this is a big deal, or at least it’s important.

Now we can say WHO we are.

Ethics, Respect, Balance, Winning Attitude, Communication, Development, Team Work, Change, Have Fun, Accountability. 

And WHY WE DO IT.

TO BE A SUPPLIER OF OTHER PEOPLE’S HAPPINESS.

It will help me coach and hopefully all help you do your thing on a daily basis better as well.  I hope you use it often in the way you think, talk, write and work.

*** A challenge for you is to find your OWN purpose.  Simply: write your own obituary. Think of who you want to be in 10 years, not what you want to own, or the job you want,  or the places you’ll be, BUT WHO YOU WANT TO BE.  Write it down.  Focus on it…and that will drive you!  Or think you were giving 6 weeks to live, what would change in your life.   Start today being who you want to be.  Give yourself a focus and write it down.

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.   Our purpose since 1985 is to be a supplier of other people’s happiness.