“We make chicken right!” was how Col. Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, described his product to potential customers and reminded his employees of their obligations to produce a quality product.

In current terms, it could be called a mission statement. While he didn’t include the overused terms we hear so often now – “world class,” “premiere,” and other superlatives that have lost their meaning, it was clear what it meant to him, his employees, and the millions of customers served. .

“Good for Colonel Sanders” Do you think “But how does that help me with my small business? I want a mission statement that means something to my organization as it grows. I don’t want to put in a nonsensical phrase that sounds nice but doesn’t mean anything. Are you alive?”

That’s what we’ll look at here: how to bring a mission statement to life so that it has meaning for clients and for the line personnel who do most of the work in any organization. To make our case and build on “We make chicken right,” let’s go back to Col. Sanders before there were FedEx, UPS, DHL and their kind.

We will assume that we are the founders of a small package delivery business that will (hopefully) build a reputation for reliable and on-time delivery anywhere in the continental United States. We are not claiming a night service (remember, this was in the 1950s), but it will come when we promise or reduce the charge by 50%.

After much deliberation and brainstorming, we came to our mission statement: “Any state, never late, or half the rate. “

This is how the various segments of our fictitious company (in no particular order) can use the mission statement to develop a strategy for their part of the organization and identify the tactical elements necessary to bring it to life.

• Marketing – Before we can develop a marketing plan, we will have to work closely with operations to find out where our market really is. Will they have the ability to cover every state in the union (Alaska and Hawaii didn’t join until 1959) when we started, or will it initially be limited to one geographic region? If we will be limited, we must make sure to define that in marketing so as not to create unintentional bad relationships with the public. Are there size and content limits on what we will carry? How do we educate clients on that? How will we determine a pricing structure? Will we offer any discounts? What will our logo be like? And our advertising campaign?
• Operations / Fleet – What type of vehicles will we need to fulfill that mission statement? Many? What about the maintenance needed to keep enough online so that we don’t have to give 50% reductions in fees (“Never late or half the rate”). Our selection of service providers must be driven by the mission statement so that focus not on price but on those who can keep our fleet on the road. What type of towing / salvage service relationships should we establish in the event of a vehicle accident or breakdown? How will we keep in touch with our drivers?
• Operations / Programming – How will we build a schedule structure so that we have a reasonable opportunity to get the package to the destination at the quoted price, on time, so that we don’t have to refund half of the fees? How will we design our transportation system: use a ‘hub’ concept or just focus on major cities? How will we ship it once we get to the main cities? Will we do it or are we looking for affiliates?
• Operations / Affiliates – How do we select affiliate operators with whom we can work across our market so that we do not have to duplicate their existing services, but rather capitalize on them? How do we determine which ones we want to work with that will support our mission statement? How much of the penalty do they absorb if they are late? How will we track the packages? How will we show that we arrive at our destination on time and ‘never late’?
• Purchasing / Accounting – How do we streamline our purchasing process so that service and supply providers are paid quickly enough so that they don’t withhold goods and services? What types of purchasing relationships can we establish to prioritize the essential materials needed to meet our delivery deadlines? Will we need special relationships with banks to make sure our cash flows easily?
• Training – What training should we have to develop leaders and employees who are willing and able to make a decision that may not be covered in our manuals? If there are no specific instructions for a given situation, how can we get them to ask, “What decision should I make that helps us get closer to ‘on time, to any state, or at half the rate’? What kind of culture should we create where people are motivated to serve our mission statement? How do we develop that kind of culture?
• Human Resources – How do we recruit and retain employees who are willing and able to support our urgent purpose? What kinds of performance evaluation processes should we have that stimulate the development of employees so that they look for ways to improve our processes and reduce inefficiencies?

We could go on indefinitely, but I think it has already been said. If the minor in your workforce does not understand the purpose of your organization,Find your part in it (after all, they are the people who do most of the work), it will be difficult for you to “get it right!”