|
When a business has a clearly defined purpose, it is harmonious, on track and ultimately makes more money. Suzanne Mercier. Managing Director of Business Alchemy International, works with individuals and companies to discover and define their purpose and integrate it as an essential part of their culture and branding.
A business Purpose is a set of fundamental and often emotional reasons for the existence of a business beyond just making money. That’s not to say that making money is not important, but it is more the result of the businesses operations than the purpose of those activities.
Suzanne’s Top Tips
- Define a purpose for your business – a reason for existing – other than to make you rich.
- Define your personal purpose and make sure it aligns with your business purpose.
- Enroll your staff in discovering their personal purpose and create a synergy between that and the business purpose.
- Develop “authentic leadership”, that is purpose and passion driven for yourself and your managers rather than the command and control style of leading.
What is purpose?
Don’t confuse a Purpose with a Mission. A typical mission statement might be “XYZ Company exists to provide great products and excellent customer service to our customers”.
Now consider the Purpose of Merk & Company: “Preserving and improving human life; medicine for the patient, not for profits."
The difference is energetic. Whilst a Mission tends to operate at a rational level, Purpose connects with our emotions and spirit as well as our minds. It evokes passion. When enrolled in the purpose of the business, employees and associates feel motivated and proud. They feel their work matters!
An inspiring Purpose creates strong common goals and a synergy that is greater than the individual differences. It can be the glue that binds together what would otherwise be disparate types, temperaments and roles. For example an organisation like Greenpeace consists of a large proportion of anti-establishment, rebellious activists. Paul Gilding, former international CEO of Greenpeace, found the way he could unite and manage these activists into an effective team was through appealing to their emotional connection with a shared purpose and passion around responding to environmental threats.
 So how do you go about discovering and defining your personal and business purpose?
Some people just know their purpose – it’s already an unquestionable part of their being. For others a little self-questioning or professional guidance may be needed to unearth that passion driven purpose.
Try this:
Write down your products or services and the role they fulfil. Now ask yourself “What is the benefit of that? Why is it important?" Keep asking, at least five times, until you have exhausted the answers. What emerges could be your purpose. You’ll know you’ve got it when you feel it energetically and the "lights go on".
For example, Suzanne is basically a consultant and trainer, but her purpose “to bring heart and soul into the corporate environment” inspires passion and enrolls her clients and associates in what she does.
What can happen when a business has no purpose?
It may make money and it may have a strong team, but because it has no purpose there is no big picture that all believe in and no stated reason why it exists. When the going gets tough or there are major changes in structure, the business can easily collapse in on itself with in-fighting and staff losses. Leadership will often be about command and control and everybody is out for what they can get rather than feeling they are contributing to a bigger picture. Growth and profit may reach a certain level and then stall.
How having a purpose can change things:
The owners, management and staff are all in alignment as to what the contribution of the business is to humanity and/or the community. Because of this, when times get tough there is less of an individual concern and more of a willingness to pull together for the common good. Leadership will be by discussion and inviting contribution with the overall authenticity and passion for the common purpose. The growth and profitability of the company will be the concern of all rather than just the upper echelons of management.
Source: Suzanne Mercier interviewed by Paul Buckingham for the Small Business Mentor Club
|
