Know Your Mission

Whenever possible, a leader tries to balance so that the needs of the mission and the needs of the people are both met. But there are times, when the needs of both can not be met. You can not balance. You have to choose one over the other. In these few situations, and you must make them few, MISSION MUST COME FIRST. These are the few times when leaders will not, can not, and should not be “fair”. The whole purpose of the organization is to fulfill its mission.


It is here that leaders, young and old, most frequently fail. Common sense would tell us that happy, satisfied workers will get the job done better. So, we assume that if we can somehow keep our people happy and satisfied, they will be more productive, more likely to get the mission accomplished. But the cause and effect of leadership just doesn’t work this way. Thousands of studies and thousands of real-world lessons in leadership prove that this natural, common-sense assumption is precisely wrong.

Mission accomplishment builds morale and esprit far more often than the other way around. When people and departments get done those things that people and departments are supposed to do, that’s when morale and esprit get highest.

Mission accomplishment builds morale.

So you had best know your mission.

Adapted from Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense Approach.