Author, entrepreneur and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki gave a great keynote last night at The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation R3 Gala. Of the 10 steps he spoke about to increase innovation, I drove home thinking about Mantras.
Organizations will only thrive if people know what you do. This is what mission statements do. Good mission statements give direction to employees and customers/stakeholders. But they’re often long and obtuse. Guy said that a mantra doesn’t replace the mission statement, rather it tells you in 3-4 words exactly what meaning you (the organization) bring to the world. Everything then follows meaning, including money, not the other way around.
21inc has an okay mission statement - to develop and inspire New Brunswick’s new and emerging leaders. It’s okay because it’s direct. It’s only okay because it’s not inspiring.
We don’t have a mantra.
A mantra is not Nike’s “Just Do It.” That gives no direction to employees in the organization. Nike’s actual mantra is Authentic Athletic Performance. He gave the example of what not to do with Wendy’s. Wendy’s has no mantra and their mission statement is about innovation and partnerships. When has your burger ever been about partnerships? What it should be, he said, is “Healthy Fast Food.” (They just have to work on that "healthy" part.)
On the drive home I played with what our mantra could be. Something about leadership, entrepreneurship, aspiration, excellence, goals, achievement, place, youth, and community. Obviously that won't boil down to 3-4 words.
We can provide context to support it with communication around our focus on young people, increase the performance of our companies, that leadership will power our province and region, make communities dynamic, etc. In the end, however, it all comes back to the core of what we do, building better leaders.
What makes teachers great? Is it charisma, their ability to hold the attention of rowdy students? What about subject area knowledge? Will higher pay attract better teachers and increase the quality of the teaching gene pool?
According to this piece in the New York Times Magazine the answer to each is no.
Why is the nitty-gritty of what makes a good teacher relevant for 21inc and this blog? Because a surprising amount of being a leader is teaching.
When I took on the role of 21inc’s Executive Director, I had no idea just how much of my day to day was about raising awareness and educating people on why our work is important. In the early days I changed what I said about 21inc almost every day as I learned what resonated with people, how to talk about it, and who needed to hear what. I was, in a way, “teaching” and trying to figure out how “students” would be respond to the material.
Now that we’re moving into more programs and growing more sophisticated, my teaching style has to change again. I feel awkward using the founding story and besides, we have accomplished real outcomes and are very proud of that. Teaching people about outcomes and why something works and should be supported is, I know now, central to being a leader.
