Simon Sinek tells us that we should start with WHY when thinking of our company and products. (See Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (Dec 27, 2011) Lisa Earle McLeod, takes it to the next level in her book Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud (Nov 15, 2012). Her approach is to have an organization first start with the Purpose, and then identify the Mission on which employees embark daily and the Values that underlie their behavior which will enable the purpose to be accomplished. By doing so, the organization will eventually achieve the Vision – what the world will look like when people do so.
Reviewing some important studies, she offers you some key statistics which you should remember when you and your team commit time to engage in the essential process of defining these four components of your company:
- Purpose and value driven organizations outperform the market by 15:1.
- They outperform comparison companies by 6:1
- Organizations that focus their business on improving people’s lives have growth rates triple those of competitors.
So, if you haven’t done so, take the time to identify your firm’s purpose and vision; then articulate the , and daily mission of your people, and the values to which they should adhere, in order for the form to achieve the them. If you have, share with us how it’s going for you!