The motivating factor of your mission statement

Your mission statement should motivate you and your staff, entrepreneur Jodi Rhoden said during her Motivational Monday presentation during Small Business Week.

Jodi Rhoden is a writer, baker, activist, and entrepreneur in West Asheville. She is the founder and former owner of Short Street Cakes, and she uses her 10 years of small-scale business experience to mentor entrepreneurs through Birds EyeBusiness Planning and Adventures and Mountain BizWorks.
It probably doesn't come as a surprise that you should be living and breathing your mission statement. Jodi asserted that there's power in setting intentions.

Setting down and reviewing a mission statement forces you to define and defend your values - something that can be very valuable for small businesses and entrepreneurs. A living mission statement can guide your company culture and streamline decision making.

Already have a mission statement? Revisit it, Jodi says. Make sure it aligns with your intentions. Work for someone else? Think about your personal mission. Perhaps you define a mission for how you approach your work or an overarching mission that applies to personal and professional aspects of your life. Look for how you can creatively incorporate your passion into your work.

Jodi recommends free form journaling or discussing your ideas with someone else. Your story feeds into your core values which in turn feed in to your mission. As you work through thoughts, look in the margins for the words and ideas that resonate. Part of the fun of being an entrepreneur or small business owner, is that you can utilize your mission to bring your whole self into your work.

Your mission becomes the promise you can deliver and allows you to activate self-guided leadership, Jodi says. But keep in mind that it is not a description of what you do - it's the guiding force behind it.