This mission statement, from materials distributed at a 2005 ACC Annual Conference session, hits all the standard buttons.
The Legal Department’s mission is to efficiently and effectively administer the legal affairs of the Company by internally providing professional, timely, and useful legal advice and services, arranging and actively managing the services of outside counsel as needed; to minimize liability exposure by recommending and implementing appropriate policies, practices, and procedures; and to administer such legal affairs in the most cost-efficient manner reasonable so as to contribute to the Companywide team effort to maximize the Company’s return to its stockholders.
No paragon of prose style, this rambling 80-word sentence, but replace “Company” with your company’s name and you can check the to do box done.
Meta-post on mission statements. See my previous posts on: April 8, 2005 on their being impossible; Aug. 3, 2005 on making them part of daily behavior; Aug. 3, 2005 on mistakes made developing them; Aug. 3, 2005 on “alignment with clients;” Aug. 26, 2005 with an Orwellian satire; Oct. 21, 2005 on three tests for their usability, and Oct. 31, 2005 as a link to strategy.