As I meet with CEOs and business owners, I sense a common theme: They seem to want more meaning and purpose. Sometimes it’s in their lives as a whole, and sometimes it’s more business focused. Many of them want broader missions for their businesses but they don’t know where to start. And the truth is that, even when they can identify starting points, the daily demands of business don’t seem to allow time to develop these broader-mission types of initiatives.
Many businesses rely on a flawed set of beliefs that influence the levers they pull to maximize value. This can result in decisions that are short-sighted or one-dimensional. The thought of adding value to society can be viewed as philanthropic or something nice to do on the side. However, many organizations do not realize the impact they have on the community or even its own employees.
In order to develop a broader mission for an organization, the CEO or owner needs a new set of beliefs.
Stakeholders benefit when value for society is maximized.
Business leaders are discovering the numerous benefits when the value for society is maximized. When the needs of a community are taken into consideration, it often leads to new products and services that were not previously envisioned; this results in additional revenue and profit for the organization while adding value to society. The focus is flipped. George W. Merck, the founder of Merck said, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow…”
Purpose, meaning and recognition are powerful motivators.
I remember many days dragging myself out of bed to go to work. For the most part, I enjoyed the people I worked with and the work I was doing, but I didn’t have a sense for a broader purpose or meaning.
People today want to work for organizations that have a broader mission and purpose. This is especially true of Gen Ys.
See my previous blog, Keys that Drive Meaning at Work, for additional ideas that lead to higher engagement and productivity by team members.
The broader mission should be integrated within strategy and operations.
There is new research to suggest that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts do not work. The main reason cited is that these efforts are not integral to the business and are often viewed as marketing efforts to show the business in a positive light.
Raymond Gilmartin, former Chairman and CEO of Merck, describes it this way:
“Instead of structuring a partnership of Merck, the Gates Foundation, and the government of Botswana to expand access to HIV/AIDS drugs as a corporate social responsibility initiative, we integrated it into our business and made it the responsibility of Merck’s head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. If we had structure it as a CSR initiative, I don’t think it would have been as successful as it was because the business would not have been as fully engaged. And it was beneficial to the business because it helped our managers learn how to bring drugs to developing countries at a lower cost.”
Research done by the Harvard Business Review has shown that these beliefs drive additional value to the organization.
Share Your Thoughts: What new beliefs have you embraced to lead your business with greater purpose?