If you have been following along, you will know that today is the day we answer the last question in the Personal Mission Statement series. If you haven’t been following along and are just catching up – here are the links to the previous articles: ‘Writing My Personal Mission Statement’; ‘Question #1 – Who am I?‘; ‘Question #2 – What am I passionate about?’; and ‘Question #3 – What do you want to do?’.

All of which brought us up to…

Question #4 – Who do you want to work with?

When I discussed this question with my coach at the time of our meeting, again my mind was filled with questions and doubt. How could I know who I wanted to work with if I hadn’t met them yet? Also – the world is full of so many possibilities; do I really just pick out a few companies and narrow my focus on just them? And what happens if the companies I choose, don’t want to work with me? Was I meant to make a list of back-up companies? How long should that list be? I was feeling a little dizzy and there seemed to be a fuzzy static inside my head generated by the noise of too many questions at one time.

Before I could get too carried away, my coach went on to explain (and I’m paraphrasing here):

“Think a little less specific and a lot more general when answering this question. This question is about the type of people you would like to work with, as well as who you envision your support system to be. Friends, family, and significant others all play a part in your work so be sure to include them and the traits that make you want to be around them. In addition to that, if you have a company name already in mind, that’s great – but think about who is at that company that is making you want to work with them. Can you define the company’s or the person’s personality? If you can, those are the words you should make sure to include in your answer.”

Suddenly, I was relieved. The visions that I had of myself doing research on every design, graphic, and publication company from Chicago to Japan and back again were melting away and my heart-rate began to slow down to it’s normal pace. Soon, rising above the fuzzy static, a quote came to into my mind: “Stop thinking globally and start thinking locally.” And with that, the lightbulb above my head turned on.

Going to my Sharpie collection this time, I had a picture in my head. It was the logo for the University of Illinois. I have never attended the school, but somehow, as I was trying to “think local” that was the image that came to mind. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a house filled with sports fans, but I have always felt that if the state of Illinois had official state colors, they would be blue and orange. Without giving the rest of my marker collection a second thought, I went right for the orange marker that I felt matched the U of I logo.

So there I was, for the final time, staring at 20 blank note cards and my newly appointed marker at the ready. I decided that instead of listing names, I was going to aim more for adjectives. I started to think about all of the people over the years who I had worked with and who I did and did not enjoy being around and why. Then, I did the same with my friends, family, and boyfriends. It turned out, that there were a string of characteristics that stood out and those were the ones I chose to write down.

Here are the personality traits I ended up with:

1. Confident 2. Positive 3. Relaxed 4. Open Minded 5. Fair 6. Understanding/Supportive 7. Fun 8. Good Listeners 9. Leaders 10. Creative

Then, I started to think of the companies…

11. Innovative 12. Technology Based 13. Huge potential to grow 14. Corporate-like Core 15. Flexible 16. Team Oriented 17. Ability to learn on the job 18. Always looking to improve/take the company to the next step 19. Out of the box thinkers 20. Respectable

The task was done. I had written my Personal Mission Statement. But now what do I do with it? I did see some patterns in all of my words the way my coach said I would. So, I knew she was on to something here.

I think it’s time to contact my career coach again…

<to be continued>