Mission: Possible – 5 Leadership Tips

MISSION POSSIBLE

“Your mission, [Name], should you choose to accept it is to _______. … This message will self-destruct in 15 seconds… 🧨”

This well-known start to the old Mission: Impossible TV show provides five insightful leadership concepts. The mission itself is seemingly impossible, yet we can adapt the strategy employed and create an environment of Mission: Possible.

FIVE LEADERSHIP TIPS

1. Your mission is intended just for you. What you can do is exactly what needs to be done. Your actions will make a difference far beyond the scope of your project.
2. Your [name] makes it very personal and meaningful. Before the scope of the mission is clear, your name is now associated with possibility and the belief that you, indeed, are the right person to ask.
3. Should you is an invitation for you to step in for a specific purpose. The invitation conveys that you are the right person for something bigger than yourself. Your intentional consideration is requested.
4. Choose to accept puts you in the driver’s seat. No one wants to be told to do something because that deflates good intentions and turns an opportunity to learn and grow into drudgery. Being asked for help gives you the power to decide if you want to accept the challenge because you believe you are the right person for the mission.
5. This message will self-destruct allows for a set time of supervisory follow-up and a reasonable anticipated date of completion. Hard due dates can cause unnecessary pressure and anxiety which is ultimately counterproductive to the mission. Anticipated dates of completion are hope-filled, yet allow for the possibility that you might not be able to complete the mission on time or at all. When a message self-destructs, there is no evidence that it ever existed – which means there are no hard feelings, disappointment, or angst if the mission’s outcome is not what was hoped for, yet personal relationships remain intact.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

The idea to shift the types of articles we wanted to publish at Chronic Joy required asking our contributing writers to consider new guidelines and shift their thinking to directed content.

I found that it was so much fun to use the opening from the Mission: Impossible TV show in my email to each person. It made asking easier for me and because I was more relaxed in my approach, each writer seemed more at ease and willing to try the new guidelines. Each one appreciated the move from deadlines (which were often missed) to this hopeful tone of anticipated dates of completion.

CREATIVITY CAN BE INVITED NOT DEMANDED

It seems that creativity cannot be demanded, but it can absolutely be invited. Many of our writers are plodders and benefit from some gentle prodding as the date of completion approaches. In fact, I have seen great improvement in the completion of missions when the pressure is removed. I gratefully accepted a new role or title: Prodder of Plodders.

I have also grown from this approach. Too often in the past, when something wasn’t completed or not submitted on time, I would be frustrated, disappointed, and even a little angry behind the scenes. Now the anticipated date of completion is just that: a hope. If things don’t work out, it’s okay. It just wasn’t meant to be, at least not yet.

Each of my emails ends with, “Please let me know if this is a mission: possible or mission: impossible.” Adding the self-destruct idea with fun exploding emojis has made us all laugh. Light-hearted humor helps to foster meaningful relationships.

The moral of my story is this: people are so much more important than projects. Life has enough challenges every single day. I would rather enjoy the journey than be so focused on the outcome that I miss the blessing of those who choose to serve with me. We are all ditch-diggers doing our best and some days our best is better than others. Every day has many small blessings when we choose to see that how we live, love, serve, and care for one another is the ultimate mission: possible that we are living out day by day.​​

AN INVITATION

We’re all called to a mission possible life with God, who gives us the strength. In God’s economy we’re all leaders and radical leadership begins when we invite God to fill us. Then we can pour into to others from our overflowing pitcher of Living Water. Check out our Servant-Hearted Leadership pages for an infusion of encouragement today!

I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)