Write Your Own History

Your Personal Mission Statement

The trend for the past several years is for organizations to run off to a secluded resort, hover around a conference table for hours, laboring over a corporate Mission Statement. Why take time to do this? What is the value? I must admit I have spent hundreds of hours the past few years working with clients to develop mission statements, vision statements, core belief statements, etc.

As I see it, the purpose of a mission statement is to develop a focused purpose and direction for an organization. Wouldn’t this also be beneficial for an individual?

I have had a personal mission statement for years, and I’ll be happy to share it with you: to learn as much as I can, share as much as I learn, and help others to achieve their goals. This purpose has driven my writing (I write 3000 – 5000 words per week), speaking (I speak 25-50 times a year), reading (I read at least two books a week), personal growth, and networking - in a sense, my entire life.

I am not sharing this to boast (there are lots of people who do twice, even three times, what I do in any of the above areas). I share this to illustrate how a simple sentence has become the focal point of almost everything I do with the time, energy and resources in my life.

A personal mission statement can:

1. Help you through the rough times in your life.
2. Keep you focused on what is really important.
3. Determine who and what gets into your life and stays there.
4. Give your life/career a sense of meaning.
5. Help you wisely make critical decisions.
6. Save you time and wasted effort.
7. Help you have a more fulfilling and satisfying career/life.
8. Live longer. (not sure about this one yet, I just hope so. Wanted to see if you were still with me)
9. Reduce the stress in your life.
10. Help you avoid career/life mistakes that drain your energy and creativity.

If you don’t have a personal mission statement, then I suggest you get started.

If you already have one, ask yourself the following three questions:

1. Is it current and relevant?
2. Does it drive your goals, actions, behavior?
3. Do you still believe in its basic premise or tenet?

To write your Personal Mission Statement now click here.

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JAD FYI-news

Client Advisory - California's Online Privacy Policy Protection Act, which became effective on July 1st, 2004 could impact you if you have a website.

The Act requires that commercial Web site operators who collect personally identifiable information from consumers residing in California post their privacy policies in a conspicuous manner on their sites. This Act applies to ANY operator of a commercial Web site — within or outside California — as long as it collects personally identifiable information from California consumers. As a result of this Act, a privacy policy will no longer be optional for such Web site operators.

If you have any questions regarding this send an email to kmzrclientadvisories@kmzr.com.

We have provided a downloadable copy of the Online Privacy Act at the JAD website in the download section of http://www.jadcommunications.com/.

You can learn more about Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman by visiting their Web site at http://www.kmzr.com.

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Marilyn Breitenstein spent $10 and built a multimillion-dollar company
Photo: Dave Kaup

Women in the News

New chapter, better verse: After reinventing itself, TWG Consulting writes a richer history
Stephen Roth - staff writer

Marilyn Breitenstein bought her company, TWG Consulting Inc., for $10 in 1992.

She saw enough value in the former Sprint Corp. technical writing and training development unit to happily buy it with an Alexander Hamilton note. McDermott International had picked up the unit in its acquisition of Sprint's United Information Services. But the Houston-based energy services company had no interest in following through on the unit's contract commitments.

It was a gamble because Breitenstein was giving up a director-level position at Sprint for the little consulting business. But she wanted a challenge.

"It was a nice way to start," she said of her $10 acquisition. "I had an instant revenue stream."

It turned out to be a wise investment. During the past 12 years, Breitenstein's firm has grown from a technical writing shop into a full-service management consulting firm with $2.98 million in 2003 revenue. A key turning point happened in 2002, when TWG revamped its services into three distinct areas and rebounded from a couple of flat revenue years.

Since 1992, Breitenstein has built a company that now has about 35 associates, more than half of whom are contractors. Shawnee-based TWG works an average of 20 to 30 projects at any given time for area clients such as Sprint, NovaStar Financial Inc., Ferrellgas Partners LP and Birch Telecom Inc.

Joan Jarrett, TWG's senior consultant, was a senior director of consumer marketing at Sprint when she met Breitenstein in 1996. She was impressed with TWG's ability to generate new ideas and spark creative thinking among her Sprint staff. She liked the firm's insistence on seeing all of its recommendations through but never claiming credit when they proved successful.

So when Jarrett took a year off and decided not to return to Sprint, it was a no-brainer where she would land. She joined TWG in 2002.

"What makes them unique is that TWG doesn't attempt to just come in and tell you what you need to do," she said. "They really delve into whatever the project is at the time and add value to the team, while also leveraging the best possible thinking from the team."

Originally incorporated as The Writers Group Inc., the name became a misnomer as the company became more deeply involved in its clients' business strategies. After changing to TWG Consulting in 2002, the firm last year improved its margins by 11.5 percent and expects revenue to increase by about 15 percent in 2004.

"We're on track for making $4 million in gross revenue this year," Breitenstein said.

That figure seemed far away after… more

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