Including Professional Development In Your Personal Mission Statement

Whether you work for a large international financial organization with hundreds of employees or a one-person wedding planning business, keeping yourself trained and at the top of your game is of vital importance in a world rife with competition and ever-changing best practices.

Human Resource Managers, Line Managers, CEOs and employees alike should be looking at their contribution to the company and how they can grow their skills for the benefit of both themselves and the company as a whole. Companys and individuals alike can greatly benefit from a personal mission statement. By defining your values and what success looks like to you, you can guide and align your personal and professional development. 

Here are some tips on how you can incorporate professional development and learning into your personal mission statement in order to get the most out of your role, increase your contribution to the business and achieve set goals.

Keep your company's goals in mind

It is important to always keep your company's visions and goals in mind when considering how professional development can contribute to your performance. Making sure that you understand your organization's overall goals means you can ask the following questions:

• What does my company need from me in order to reach these goals?
• How can professional development equip me with the skills needed to reach these goals?
• How can I incorporate professional development into my personal mission statement in order to live out my personal mission statement?

Once you have identified these, you can make sure your personal mission statement includes aspects of professional development that you can be sure are contributing positively to the long-term achievement of your company's goals. Aligning these two sets of goals ensures that your professional development and personal mission statement will bring you further within your organization. 

But keep your own goals in mind too

When exploring ways to incorporate professional development into your personal mission statement, it is important to consider your own personal goals as well as those of your employer. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What are my personal goals?
• What skills do I need to gain in order to achieve these goals?
• What development opportunities are there that will equip me with these skills?
• How can I build these opportunities into my mission statement?

Work with your employer to develop your mission statement

Any good company will acknowledge  the benefits of offering professional development to their staff and should be supportive of your plans to develop your skills.

Have an open discussion with your team manager or HR/Learning & Development Manager to determine how professional development may contribute to achieving your personal goals, and the overarching goals of your organization. 

Do your homework and explore the possibilities

Identifying the typical skills of people working in your type of role is great way to determine areas of improvement that you can include in your mission statement. Even if your current role may not require all of these skills, they could be integral to projects or jobs you take on in the future, or open up new opportunities within your current position.

It can be very motivating to explore where your role could take you or areas that you could specialize in. From broader areas like business & management and leadership development, to more specific training areas like sales and IT, integrating professional development into your personal mission statement is a key strategy for keeping your career on track, and impressing employers along the way. Knowing how professional development can directly contribute to the forward momentum of your career will help you to craft a mission statement that encourages your continual progress through learning and development.