Step #9 - in the 20 Steps to Build a Great Business
What is your Why? Your Purpose? And why does it matter?
"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."
- Mark Twain
From Steve Chandler:
Once you are living on purpose, your resentments will simply be obstacles in the way. You will want to clear them off the track as soon as your train slows down enough, so you can feel the power, the deep power of your life's purpose on course. Listen to what you love. Respond to what you love. Pay attention. Live consciously. Be aware of your own happy moments. When have you felt most alive? This is how you will find your soul's purpose in life. When do you get lit up? What gives you that tingle in your spine? When do you smile in spite of yourself? If you become a purpose-detective, you will begin collecting clues. Keep going there, wherever the clues lead.
Two Videos to get you started:
We begin by asking the most fundamental question of why the organization exists. This question aims not at determining what products or services the company offers, but focuses on what motivates people to carry out the work. The work we actually do may change through the years, but why we do what we do should last for a very long time. The core purpose also captures the soul of the organization.
To begin discovering your Core Purpose, try using the "Five Whys" exercise.
Start with WHAT you do. Write the statement on a flip chart or white board: "We make X products or deliver Y services".
The goal is to ask the question until you get to the true essence of your purpose, one that can guide the organization in the decisions it makes and attracts and motivates employees to carry out the mission.
Answer these questions in writing about your company:
- Who are you?
- What do you love to do? A Passion for, it is fun and your company brings the most value to. Why? (5 times like a 2 year old)
- Who you do it for? Why? (5 times like a 2 year old)
- What they want or need and what do they do when you deliver it that makes it rewarding to you? Why?
- How do they change or transform as a result of what you give them? Why?
- Ask "WHY is all of this important"? Write the answer on the flip chart or white board.
- Ask the WHY question again and again (up to 5 times), dig deeper, each time brainstorming and charting your answers.
- Review all the different answers to the WHY question with your team, searching for the answer that resonates most, generates some passion, and gets to the heart of your organization's Core Purpose.
- Here are a few good core purpose statements that have endured the test of time:
- 3M: To solve unsolved problems innovatively
- Merck: To preserve and improve human life
- Mary Kay Cosmetics: To give unlimited opportunity to women
- Walt Disney: To make people happy
- Next Level Coaching - To help people exceed their expectations
After you develop your core purpose, test it with your executive team for a quarter or two to determine if you have it right. Does it resonate with why you come to work every day? Is it enduring? Is it inspirational and motivational? Does it fit even if we change the products or services we offer? Does the Core Purpose align with our Core Values?
Understanding and developing the right Core Purpose is well worth the time invested. It will help drive your strategy, attract the right people and give meaning to the work your people do. Good luck!
Your Core Purpose is for column 2 of your Strategic Plan that will stand the test of time.
To begin, ask these three questions;
- Have we written down the Core Purpose?
- Have we announced it to the rest of the company?
- Does it pass the memory test?
If the answer to these questions is yes, congratulations, you are on the right path. You still may want to dig deeper to see if it resonates with your team. Does it motivate them to come to work and serve your clients to the best of their ability?
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