Mission Moment: Missions

There is a lot of talk these days about "mission". Every company has a mission statement. People get paid a lot of money to help companies write a mission statement. They get printed on big signs, letterhead, name tags, and paychecks. They are posted at the front desk, in the lunch room and hung on every corridor. They are everywhere.

But what does that accomplish?

The Y has had the same basic mission for over 160 years, "To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all." It's a great mission and one that we try to live every day.

And yes, we do put the mission on posters, letterhead, and the website.

But what we have been learning is that while our mission is important, just as important is the mission of each person who works here and comes here.

As much as we want to put our mission into practice, we must first honor the personal mission of each individual. We must take the time to understand what motivates a person. And then we must find a way to match their personal mission to our own.

This requires flexibility on everyone's part. While our mission is concrete, it is still flexible. As long as an individual wants to help others build healthy spirits, healthy minds, and healthy bodies, we can work together.

Candidly, we are still working through this. We have to do more to communicate our mission and do a whole lot more of listening to others as to their mission. And as the saying goes, God gave us two ears and one mouth so we should be listening at least twice as much as we are talking.

So we are taking more time to listen to our staff, to ask our kids more questions about themselves, to engage our volunteers in learning more about why they are here.

All in all I think it will work. Like any change in status quo it can be painful, and people will complain, and some folks may move on. But in the end, we will be living our mission by honoring the hearts of others.