GWC: the Job vs. the Mission
Stop blaming employees for “missing the mark” when you never actually told them what the mark was.
Ever hired someone to handle a role—say, “Project Manager”—but realized you actually needed them to help you topple a Fortune 500 behemoth? And shockingly, they never did topple it because you forgot to mention the full conquest plan?
That, my friends, is the difference between the job (day-to-day tasks) and the mission (the grand reason you exist).
Let’s break down how to ensure people “get it, want it, and have capacity for it”—otherwise known as GWC—so you don’t waste half your life giving side-eye to good employees who never even saw the bigger picture.
1. Defining “Job” vs. “Mission”
The Job:
This is the official stuff you list in the job description: scheduling, emailing, building code, making coffee runs (don’t act like you’ve never had that in a pinch).
It’s the core day-to-day tasks. The employee can do a stellar job here—answering phones politely, delivering code on time—and still be miles away from the bigger result you imagined.
The Mission:
This is the unspoken “why” behind it all, the reason you started your whole fiasco in the first place. Maybe you want to disrupt how banks handle data, or you aim to give small businesses a fighting chance with top-shelf marketing. Or—my personal favorite—you just want to dethrone a Fortune 500 giant by building an unstoppable tech platform for credit unions.
That mission might never appear in the “Main Duties” bullet points. But if you don’t communicate it, your best employees can still end up building a perfectly nice product that’s nowhere near your dream empire.
Why the difference matters:
Imagine your employee thinks they’re “just in charge of daily social media,” but you assume they’ll revolutionize your brand voice and open a path to massive lead gen.
If you never say that out loud, you’ll be fuming, “Why aren’t we generating 1,000 leads a week?” while they figure they’re doing great (no typos, daily posts, done!).
Cue resentment and confusion. And, ironically, that person missing the mark? They might be your best social media manager if only they knew the mission.
2. GWC: Gets It, Wants It, Capacity to Do It
Straight from the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) playbook, GWC is a nifty filter to see if someone can carry the mission beyond ticking job boxes.
Gets It
Do they actually understand the deeper “why” behind your business? If they scratch their head every time you mention “conquering a sector,” they might not get it.
Scenario: The employee who spouts jargon-laden updates but is clueless about why it matters that you want to surpass the competition. They do tasks, but never connect them to the bigger game plan.
2. Wants It
Even if they intellectually “get” the mission, do they want to be part of it? Some folks love job stability; they’re not into your “wild pivot every three months” approach.
Scenario: The coworker who was all for the fancy job title but wants no part of the hustle and chaos that come with your big ambition. They love the label but refuse to do the grunt work.
3. Capacity to Do It
They might get it. They might want it. But do they realistically have the skills, time, bandwidth, and emotional stamina for it? If your mission is to build a rocket, do they have the engineering chops, or are they better suited to building Lego sets?
Scenario: The developer who loves your mission but can’t actually code fast enough to keep up, or the marketing whiz who’s never faced the constraints of a scrappy startup environment.
Putting it all together:
If someone’s missing any of the three, they’ll fail the mission. They might be a stellar “day-to-day job” performer but will never champion your hush-hush aspiration.
Alternatively, they might be totally on board with the dream but can’t handle the daily tasks. You’ve got to evaluate all three or risk meltdown.
3. Get Team Alignment Consistently
One of the easiest ways to fail in communication and team alignment is to say something once… and never again. If something is important to you—and to your mission—it’s worth repeating.
Method: Don’t just hold a single, huge meeting once a year. Instead:
1:1 Check-ins
Ask: “Any questions about our broader direction? Are you seeing how your tasks connect to the big outcome?”
Slip in mini-mission clarifiers: “Remember, the reason we’re automating emails is to scale to 100 clients by next year. That’s how we eat the big fish.”
2. Micro-standups
Start your stand-ups with a quick mission reminder. Not 40 slides, just a sentence or two: “We’re here to create the best marketing analytics platform, right? Let’s see how today’s tasks tie in.”
This keeps the bigger objective front and center without scaring them with your entire 5-year plan every single day.
3. ‘Mission lite’ meetings
If your future vision is too big for daily talk, occasionally run a “mission brainstorming” session.
Let folks chime in with ideas, solve micro-problems in real time. They’ll stay connected and less terrified than if you said, “We must overthrow Google by Q4—go forth, peasants!”
Benefit: Everyone constantly sees how daily tasks link to the mission. They feel part of something bigger—assuming they GWC it.
4. Personal Reflection on Mission
I once had a star coder who was super consistent, hammered out tasks on time, and never missed a sprint deadline. Great, right?
Except I was baffled that they never pitched solutions that advanced my overall plan. In my head, I’m thinking, “Don’t they see we want to turn this code base into the next platform for credit union brilliance?!”
They had no clue. They thought their job was simply, “Fix bugs, push updates.”
Eventually, after months of mild annoyance, I had a frank talk: “Look, the real reason we’re building these modules is to unify the entire CU experience across multiple channels.”
They stared at me like, “Oh, that’s the point?”
They definitely had capacity to build it. They just didn’t know the bigger reason. We parted ways eventually because, while they got it, they didn’t want it (they liked a narrower dev focus). But it saved us both time. Had I spelled out the big mission earlier, we’d have known from day one this wasn’t their dream gig.
Final Thoughts
Yes, employees can rock the job but fail the mission if you keep that mission locked in your mental vault.
Yes, you should use GWC to confirm they can champion the cause—understanding it, wanting it, and having the horsepower to deliver.
Yes, you need a simple routine (like weekly one-on-ones or mission-laced standups) to keep the bigger picture on everyone’s radar.
Remember: The job is tasks, but the mission is destiny. If you want them along for the ride, actually mention where you’re headed—and make sure they truly GWC it. Because a job well done is nice, but a mission well executed? That’s how you build your empire.
Next up, we’ll talk about measuring and celebrating the mission (a.k.a. how to know if you’re winning, and how to throw confetti responsibly).
Until then, keep reminding your staff: “We aren’t just building software. We’re overthrowing entire industries—one commit at a time.”
Disruption with a side of humor—
Kirk Drake
