ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the mission as a genuinely useful and essential leadership methodology. The social contract that exists between the life sciences industry and the society in which it operates is unwritten, powerful and, from one perspective, disingenuous. A strong mission statement not only signals compliance with the social contract and provides guidance to discretionary action by expert, autonomous employees, it also has an important role in mitigating reputational risk by maintaining the trust of stakeholders. A beneficent and humanitarian mission emerges as a way of building the affective commitment of expert workforces to the organisation. Only strategic choices that contribute significantly to the mission are allowed to proceed to a more detailed assessment of feasibility. In this way, the mission statement acts as a brake on the passions of departments who have a great, but not necessarily mission–enhancing, idea.
