Being Mission-Driven Is About Living a Life of Purpose

Photo credit: Ahmet Kurt via Unsplash

I love the phrase “mission-driven.” Whenever I think about it, it makes me feel motivated.

There is, however, one thing I don’t like. Most of us think about “mission-driven” only in the context of an organization with a social purpose or a leader who works for one.

But mission-driven cuts much deeper than that. In fact, it gets to the core of what it means to live a good life—one that sets us on a surer path to happiness than the pursuit of profit or any other kind of self-interest ever can.

Let me back up.

The Use of Mission-Driven

As a lover of words, I like to know the roots of things. But there is no definition of “mission-driven” in the dictionary (at least not the usual ones.) And my efforts to find the first use of the term were in vain.

But leading business publications, including Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and Forbes, have been writing about it for at least a decade (I’d likely say longer if I had the patience to dive deeper into the archives.) Among the popular angles: Being mission-driven helps organizations attract top talent.

The past decade has also seen several books on the topic, from Mission-Driven Venture by attorney and financial advisor Marc Lane to Mission-Driven Leadership by Mark Bertolini, Aetna’s long-time chairman and CEO.

So, generally speaking, we can agree that “mission-driven” is usually used to refer to an organization with a goal-directed to some social good.

Mission-driven nonprofits, such as Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), Oxfam, and the World Wildlife Fund, tend to exist exclusively for this reason. On the other hand, mission-driven for-profit companies pursue a social good in concert with financial goals. Among the poster children: Patagonia, Whole Foods, and Ben & Jerry’s.

The term became popularized, then, to distinguish these types of organizations and those who lead them from organizations whose reason for being, through whatever product or service sold, is primarily profit—sometimes, with social impacts be damned.

The Deeper Meaning of Mission-Driven – and Why It Matters

But as I wrote above, what it means to be mission-driven actually cuts deeper than having a social mission—and lends more benefits than may be commonly recognized.

To be mission-driven, after all, is about having a purpose greater than one’s self-interest. And being motivated by something greater than one’s self-interest is, as sages throughout the ages have observed, the key to a good life and a happy life.

As only Mark Twain could put it: “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.”

And when we connect that “why” with doing something for the well-being of others, it is much more likely to boost our happiness than when we do things for ourselves alone.

The Harvard Business Review, for example, recently reviewed a new research study that found that spending money on other people can increase our happiness.  (Interestingly, Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ashley Whillans and her co-authors found that it was important for people to choose how they spent the money and to see results.)

Numerous other studies have demonstrated connections between pro-social behavior and health, productivity, engagement, and innovation—all things that mission-driven organizations need to succeed in addressing today’s critical social problems.

The Opportunity

So, what’s in a word? In the case of being “mission-driven,” quite a lot that can benefit society, organizations, and individuals—when we work to make connections across all those levels.

If you’re interested in learning more, please visit my resources section for a free downloadable Mission Matters Conversation Framework and my new white paper for Mission-Driven leaders, How to Lead Well When the Way Is Unclear. Or reach out for a chat.