Purpose is now a recurring theme among business leaders. Are you a business leader who thinks that the only purpose of your business is to make a profit? Well, you’re missing something very important. This article tests whether your company is living on purpose. Can you honestly answer all of the following questions with “yes”, asks the management-issues.com website.
1) Do our owners see the work they pay for paid having a sustainable value?
2) Are we great at what we do in the eyes of our customers?
3) Will what we do make the world a better place in the eyes of our grandchildren?
4) Do our employees love what they do and the way we do it?
The game is changing
This is about a company that recently proved that it failed to live on purpose. The troubled entity is the British retailing group, Sports Direct. After revelations of the poor working practices at their main warehouse, combined with indifferent financial results, the shares of the company fell 13 % in one day. Sports Direct failed to live on purpose.
In 1970 Milton Friedman’s was quoted: "I’m a businessman. I’m here to make as much money as I can, so long as I stay within the rules of the game. I’m not here to save the world." But now – the rules haven’t changed, but the game itself is changing. The game must have changed, how else can we explain why the shares in Sports Direct fell. Why didn’t the shareholders applaud the company's canny capitalistic methods?
What the future will bring
The distinction between a charity, a social enterprise and a corporate business is going to become harder to see. Many companies will continue to live without a larger purpose. They may survive for a long time, if can get away with it. However, the trend is clear. Can we really see the trend to change anytime soon? After all, managers manage and leaders anticipate, right?
-jk-