A message is only compelling if it sticks, like the hook of a song. It needs to resonate deep within your audience's hearts and minds. Your message needs to be so simple, so easy to understand, that people - your connectors, easily walk around talking about it.  

How do you create something that sticks?

When I started in my last role, I realized that we had a problem - our team did not engage in their work. Musical performances lacked soul, energy, and passion. We were painting by numbers and not coloring outside the lines. We needed a change, a new culture, we needed something that would bring people together. We needed - a mission.  

"Connecting with people by creating engaging musical experiences so that they end their day happier and more fulfilled." - Music Department's mission statement.

We had one singular focus - to connect with another human through engaging music.  

We had one singular aim - to help them end their day happier and more fulfilled.  

Mission statements feel good when you first hear or read them. But to give them efficacy, they need to be felt throughout the organization. From the point that we adopted the mission statement, everything changed.  

• We changed our leadership approach to be servant-leaders.  

• We acknowledged that the front line team member was the most important person within the organization.  

• We ensured every decision we took aligned with our focus and our aim. No longer words on a page, our mission statement became our culture.  

To create a culture that lasts several years, and hopefully, through to this day, took more than several smart people sitting in a room.

It involved our ability to tell our own stories, share the story of our team, and share what we hope to achieve and how we intend to do it. Then, we could share our mission with those that could connect with the others.

When I left, I can honestly say that our department's culture reflected the values we set out to achieve.

It stuck.  

What made it stick?
Simple intention.
Simple hope.
Action.

Inspiration for this article came from Malcom Gladwell and his book "The Tipping Point."