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?
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?
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-