Page 28 - Becoming a Successful Manager

Defi ning Your Role 19

• What’s the ultimate purpose of our department?
• How will our department accomplish its objectives?
• How can our department make a difference to the people
we serve?
• What would we expect to receive if we were our own
customers?
• What are the standards and philosophies our department
intends to live by?
• What makes our department important?
• How do we proactively adjust our purpose to successfully
deliver against the changing needs and demands of the
business?

After you and your employees answer these questions, use your
responses to arrive at a statement that summarizes your depart-
ment’s reason for being and how you intend to achieve your objec-
tives, through the combined and varied talents available.
There is no one right way of creating a departmental mission
statement, since it’s a personal reflection of your values, your ide-

als, your vision of the department’s character, and how you want
the department to function.
Once you have arrived at a mission statement that is viable for
you and your staff, distribute a copy to each member of your staff
and request that they review it often.

Consistently Leading by Example

Your staff can view your departmental mission statement as mere
words, or it can be taken seriously. Since you want it to be taken