Let’s talk business — your business to be exact. The best place to start is by posing this question: What is the purpose or mission of your business? There’s a caveat to this question: you can’t say “to make money,” because all businesses should want to make money. Let’s talk business — your business to be exact. The best place to start is by posing this question: What is the purpose or mission of your business? There’s a caveat to this question: you can’t say “to make money,” because all businesses should want to make money.
If you are having a hard time deciding what the purpose or mission of your business is — I can tell you now, it is something you need to stop and consider. If you yourself don’t know why you wake up every morning and go to your office and do what you do, how do you expect your employees to be motivated to do the same?
I began to really think about this topic a great deal after I attended a keynote session at the 2018 Electronic Security Expo (ESX). The keynote was led by Don Yaeger, 11-time best-selling author and longtime associate editor for Sports Illustrated.
Yaeger traveled the country studying great athletic teams to determine what works for them, what’s important, and what was/is the key to their success.
Like everything in life, the most important element of any group, team or business is its foundation. Your foundation is composed of several things, but I want to talk to you about purpose.
Like me, you’ve probably heard many times that millennials care about purpose more than pay. But let’s be honest, most people want to be a part of something that matters, that makes a difference — regardless of age, sex, or race. A 2016 LinkedIn Global Report asked 26,000 LinkedIn members which was more important: purpose, money or status. Those who voted that purpose was the most important were: 48% aged 51+, 38% aged 36-50, and 30% were millennials.
This same survey revealed that 74% of total respondents want to work somewhere where they feel their job matters.
As a “millennial” myself I feel like I can attest to the desire to want to be a part of something that matters, something that has a purpose and a direct impact on others in a positive way. But this desire isn’t just limited to my generation.
Deloitte defines purpose-driven as “having an important objective that creates a meaningful impact for stakeholders.” These stakeholders include customers, employees, the community, and even investors. Here’s an example…
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