Spirituality in management education : the development of the personal mission

Abstract

The current trend of employees writing personal mission statements then matching them to corporations with similar missions is a practical and optimal way of fostering a more productive and synergistic work environment. To make this practice more accessible, workers and employees need tools with which they can easily familiarize themselves to produce a personal mission statement. They need awareness of themselves, their skills, goals, directions, life values, and they need a few educational guidelines to help them formulate their mission and their vision statements. This study provides such simple tools to assist them to live happier, more satisfying, more productive lives by being in sync with their original reason for being, and to help them accomplish their goals, and integrate their personal and work lives. To accomplish this, seven popular books on the personal mission were reviewed. The basic elements and concepts of these books were compiled and presented to students and others in a two hour workshop. A pre and post test survey was issued to participants and the results compared in a paired-t test. Results showed that participants of the workshop were significantly influenced by the presentation, and that they were able to improve their work self-concept, as well as create and write a mission and a vision statement for their lives.