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CH 2d : Jerry Maguire’s Mission Statement

I am revitalizing my 2020 article into a video.

Below is my article in 2020:

CH 2d : Jerry Maguire’s Mission Statement – 2020

When Jerry Maguire came out in the 90’s, it had a strong impact to some people. Some looked for the one who completes them while some like my co-sales teammate resigned from work. Like Jerry Maguire, he too had a quarter-life crisis and wanted to go back to school to pursue his passion. I, like some of Jerry Maguire’s officemate we’re clapping but deep inside was wary he will achieve his passion. If you are wondering what happened to him, he is now successful in the same work and industry he tried to leave.

Wikipedia defines quarter-life crisis as “involving anxiety over the direction and quality of one’s life” which is most commonly experienced in a period ranging from a person’s early twenties up to their mid-thirties[1]. I define quarter-life crisis this way; we go through college and find a job just focused on earning money until one day we wakeup and begin to ask, is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? In this crossroad of our life, we begin to look for our passion and purpose. If you are successful in finding your purpose and pursuing it, life seems easier. Actually the problems are the same but since you are doing what you love, you have gained the resilience to continue in spite of the difficulties. Plus the comfortable feeling that you are doing something that you are meant to do.

Business is like life, that is why it needs a Mission Statement. Otherwise your business would just be for earning money. In my “How to Start Your Own Business” Seminar, I always ask the attendees what is their passion, then I tell them to start the business of their passion. Business is a struggle, it is harder than just being employed and earning salary. Your continuing the business and closing it will depend if the business is your passion.

Another point from the movie, Jerry Maguire was fired for trying to change the direction of the company when he was not part of the Board of Directors. In fact he was like Don Quixote, dreaming people will embrace his mission when he is in the middle of the organizational chart. There will be no twist to the movie if Jerry Maguire was part of the Board of Director. It is the Owners or Board of Directors who sets the Vision and Mission of the business then cascades down this direction through policies and corporate culture. In fact, Jerry Maguire was only able to set the direction he wanted when he was the owner of his own company.

Two lessons I want to reiterate from this movie:

  1. Your business needs a Mission and Vision based on your passion. There are a lot of advantages to this, one of which is you won’t have a quarter-life crisis which in business years is just after a few years. Owning a business is like sailing towards waves and you continuing or going back when you encounter rough seas would depend if your business completes you.
  2. The Mission, Vision and Values are developed by the owners and cascaded down their employees. The analogy is like steering a ship with the directions coming from somewhere below deck and not on top at the bridge.

Ever wondered what was really inside Jerry Maguire’s Mission Statement? The movie’s writer, director and producer – Cameron Crowe released the full 25-page Mission Statement in his website to commemorate the 20th year of the movie in 2016. You can read it at http://www.theuncool.com/films/jerry-maguire/jerrys-mission-statement/ .

Reference :

  1. Quarter-Life Crisis – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-life_crisis#:~:text=In%20popular%20psychology%2C%20a%20quarter,begin%20as%20early%20as%2018).

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