If you and your fellow staff want to further understand what God wants your organization to achieve, ask Him. Get together and ask Him. Relentlessly. Then, listen. And when God answers, reflect on what He’s saying.
 
Then as a group capture what God is saying in a short, memorable, easy-to-memorize statement. A statement that helps everyone remember what God is calling your organization to do—your organization’s God-given mission statement. Here’s an example: Christian Academy in Japan, a school for the children of evangelical missionaries in Japan, equips students to impact the world for Christ.
 
And when you’ve finalized your mission statement, keep the focus on what God is calling your organization to do by talking about the mission, asking people what excites them about the mission and how their work contributes to the mission, and maybe even encouraging everyone to memorize the mission.
 
Focus on your organization’s God-given mission. Today.

You want to serve God more effectively. So do I. God has done great things for me, and out of gratitude, I want serve even more effectively.
 
One thing that helps me increase my effectiveness is focusing. Focusing on God, on what He’s calling me to do, on what’s going on, and on action steps I need to take so I can serve effectively.
 
Questions help me focus. Questions like:

1. What’s your organization’s God-given mission?
2. What’s it take to achieve your organization’s God-given mission?
3. How can you measure mission achievement?
4. How can you identify key performance indicators?
5. How can you use key performance indicators to achieve your mission?

To get started, how about discussing the above questions at a team meeting?
 
Get focused. Reflect on some questions. Today.

You're in a meeting. You're listening to an intriguing proposal on staff training. But something is bothering you—the presenter has not connected the proposal to your organization's mission.

Question: What can you do?

Answer: You can ask questions, for example:

• How does your proposal support our mission?
• How will you help others understand how your proposal supports our mission?
• What revisions can you make to your proposal so is explicitly supports the achievement of our mission?

Encourage others to connect their proposals to the mission. Ask questions. Today.

Want to achieve your mission? If so, focus even more on your mission. Why? Because the more you focus on your mission, the more you will get it done.
 
3 questions:

1. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being high), how focused are you on your mission?
2. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being high), how focused on your mission do you want to be?
3. What will you do?

Focus on achieving your mission. Today.

Tomorrow, you’re presenting a proposal to the Leadership Team. The proposal is about how to orient new staff better. You feel good about the proposal.
 
But something is bothering you.
 
Then you realize what is bothering you. When developing your proposal, you didn’t think about your organization’s mission. You didn’t ask yourself, “In terms of the mission, what do new staff need to understand, be able to do, and value?”
 
As you consider this question, other questions come to mind:

• How can we help new staff understand the mission?
• How can we help new staff understand where we are in terms of achieving our mission?
• How can we help staff understand how they contribute to the mission?
• How can I help the Leadership Team see how this proposal supports the mission?

Good news! The presentation isn’t until tomorrow. So, you have time to revise it. You have time to make clear how the proposal supports the mission.
 
Consider 4 questions:

1. What proposal are you working on?
2. What do you hope to accomplish through your proposal?
3. How does your proposal support the mission?
4. How will you help others understand how your proposal supports the mission?

Connect your proposals to your mission. Today.

Your team is on a mission. First team to make the puzzle wins. Your team has found the edge pieces and has connected them to make a rectangle. And now your team is at a loss.
 
There’s a gaping hole inside the rectangle.
 
Unfortunately, this puzzle did not come with a picture. You wish it had. Everyone on your team wishes it had. Why? Because knowing what the picture looks like would help your team work more effectively and efficiently to finish the puzzle.
 
Point: In an organization, the mission statement is like the puzzle border. Daily activities are like the pieces that fill in the gaping hole. Knowing how the daily activities are connected to the mission and to each other can help you work more effectively and efficiently.
 
Consider 3 questions:

1. What do you do each day?
2. If you didn’t do your job, what would happen?
3. So, how does your job contribute to achieving the mission?

Find out how your daily activities contribute to the mission. Today.

Leaders who are focused on their mission do 5 things. To what extent do you do these 5 things?

Want to focus on your mission? If so, talk about it. Why? Because talking helps you focus. The more you talk about your mission, the more you’ll focus on it.
 
Want to find out how focused you are on your mission? If so, find out how often you talk about it. If you regularly talk about your mission each day, you’re focused on it. If you don’t talk about your mission each day, you’re not fully focused on it.
 
Consider 5 questions:

1. What do you talk about with others?
2. What priorities do your daily conversations reflect?
3. How does talking impact what you focus on?
4. If you talked more about your mission, what might happen?
5. What will you do?

Talk about your mission. Today.

You want to learn more about achieving your God-given mission. You want deepen your understanding of:

1. Your mission
2. What it takes to achieve your mission
3. How you’re doing on achieving your mission
4. How you can close the gap between the words of your mission and the reality of your situation

Question: How can you learn more about achieving your mission?

Answer: By exploring the following 4 questions. Read More...

You’re considering developing student objectives (schoolwide learning outcomes). Before doing so, you’d like to get clear on the big picture. You’re wondering, “How are mission, student objectives, and curriculum connected? Is there a framework that connects these?”

Yes! The MOSAIC framework helps you connect mission, student objectives, and curriculum:

1. Mission 
2. Objectives 
3. Standards 
4. Assessments 
5. Instructional strategies 
6. Children

Read More...

You’re thinking about developing student objectives (schoolwide learning outcomes). It’s going to take time and energy. You have limited amounts of these—so, you know that developing student objectives means other things won’t get done. Now you’re wondering, “What are some reasons for developing student objectives?” Good question.

Here are 5 reasons why you might want to you invest time and energy into developing student objectives. Read More...

You want to define your school’s mission in terms of student learning. So, you’re working to develop student objectives (schoolwide learning outcomes).

Question: What makes good student objectives good? Read More...

Before developing student objectives (schoolwide learning outcomes), do some reflection. I encourage you to reflect on the 8 questions below. Read More...

School Year 1: Panic—we started in a state of panic. And panic is not a good place to be. I sat in my office, looking Focus on Learning, the reaccreditation manual from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). I liked the title. I liked that the reaccreditation process had been boiled down to two questions: (1) “How are students doing with respect to the [student objectives]…?” and (2) “Is the school doing everything possible to support high achievement of these [student objectives] for all its students?” 
 
I didn’t like it that I couldn’t answer the questions. “Great!” I thought. “This reaccreditation process is predicated on student objectives. We don’t have them. What are they? I don’t get it.” At this point, I did an understandable thing—I panicked, got to work, and tried to unsettle everyone as little as possible.  Read More...

“There’s a gap.” Helen sits in her office, mulling over the gap between her school’s mission statement and the reality of her program. “This is a Christian school—Christian teachers, devotions, Bible class, chapel, a positive environment. These are good, but only take us so far in achieving our mission. We need more. I need more. I need an additional way to close the gap.”  Read More...

You’re working at a Christian school. Your school’s mission is to equip students to impact the world for Christ.

Question: How can you define what it takes to carry out your mission? How can you define what it takes to equip your students to impact the world for Christ?

Answer: By defining the “equipment” students will receive. In other words, by defining student objectives (schoolwide learning outcomes). Read More...

You want your school to achieve its mission. You know you need to define what it takes to achieve your school’s mission. You’ve hear that developing student objectives (schoolwide learning outcomes) might help. So, you want to learn more. Good.

Question: How can you learn more about developing student objectives?

Answer: By exploring the following 7 questions:

1. How can you define what it takes to carry out your school's mission?
2. Are student objectives right for you and your school?
3. What's developing student objectives look like?
4. What questions should you consider before developing student objectives?
5. What makes good student objectives good?
6. What are some reasons for developing student objectives?
7. How are mission, student objectives, and curriculum connected?

Focus on your mission. Use student objectives to define the achievement of your mission. Today.

To close the gap between the words of your mission statement and the reality of your current situation, do 4 things: focus on your mission, empower others, work smart, and pursue excellence.

Imagine asking 3 Christian leaders what their God-given organizational mission is. Imagine you got the following 3 responses:

1. To look busy.
2. To be busy.
3. To be productive.

How would you feel? I'd be stunned. And I'd feel discouraged and sad. Read More...

You developed a mission statement. You feel good about it. It reflects how God has been leading you.
 
Question: Now what? Read More...

You and I want to achieve our God-given missions. To do so, we know we need to focus on our missions.
 
Question: How can training increase focus on the mission? Read More...

Make sure you ask God for help, define mission achievement, measure mission achievement, and take action.

Want to achieve your God-given mission? Then focus on 3 things:

1. Your mission statement.
2. The results you need to achieve your mission.
3. The measures that tell you if you’ve achieved the desired results.

Read More...

I like telling stories. I also like celebrations. You know, parties. Food, fun, fellowship. And the good news is that storytelling and celebration can help you and me increase our focus on the mission
 
Question: How can stories and celebration increase focus on the mission? Read More...

You and I both know that focusing on the mission is vital and challenging. It’s vital because if we don't focus on the mission, we get off track. It’s challenging because mission statements are broad and because we face distractions.
 
Here’s some good news—a scorecard can help! Read More...