About Social Media Today
Our series on the building blocks of L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. continues today. You should read the introductory article, The Cornerstones of Effective Leadership, and continue with L = Loyalty, E = Excellence, A = Attitude, D = Discipline, E = Education, R = Reliable, S = Service, H = Humility and I= Integrity.
"The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” —William Shakespeare
“What are you doing that for?” “Why are we doing things this way?” “Should we add more products or specialize in deeper categories?” “Why do we continue to invest in unprofitable customers?” “Why are we thinking about building a new plant in this dragging economy?”
Do you know what business you’re in?
These are just a few of questions that arise in the course of figuring out what business you’re in. It’s also an appropriate note on which to finish our L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. series with P = PURPOSE, which relates to not only your organization’s direction, but to your own individual purpose as a Servant-Leader.
What is your purpose … for your company as well as yourself?
Among many consultants, the word “Purpose” is routinely exchanged with buzzwords like “Mission,” “Vision,” etc., and its power is often subjugated to those terms. In an earlier article, “Spit-shine your mission so it’s crystal clear,” I discussed the difference between Vision and Mission statements, and wrote that a “Vision Statement seeks to ‘communicate’ the core values and purpose of an organization, and looks to the future, to ‘what is possible’ rather than ‘what is.’ It’s more about inspiration than perspiration.”
How does purpose relate to your vision & mission statements?
In a vision statement, Purpose is often subsumed by a celebration of values. Values are critical to “how” you’ll go about realizing your Purpose … but Purpose describes “why” you’re in business. Then, let your Mission Statement fulfill that Purpose. As I also wrote in the earlier article … let your “Mission Statement [say] exactly what you do — now — and like a good ‘elevator speech,’ it should be recited in the time it takes you to get from the first to the 10th floor. It should use clear, muscular language to tell people succinctly ‘who you are’ and ‘what you do’. It’s what the perspiration is all about.”
Ford Motor CEO and the 3 most important traits of leadership
In a recent interview for Chief Executive magazine, Allan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company, described the three most important traits of leadership, the first of which was to define the Purpose of the organization. “What business are we in?” … and more importantly … “What business aren’t we in?”
What are we trying to accomplish, what values do we support and how does that form the foundation for the strategy that will get us there? Steve Jobs’ mantra of “Get rid of the crappy stuff” reminds us to sharply focus on the distractions that dilute those endeavors that truly serve your organization’s Purpose.
Purpose requires clarity. Clarity requires simplicity
Purpose also requires clarity, and for me, clarity requires simplicity. Pompous-sounding vision statements obfuscate rather than enlighten the Purpose of a company and its true direction. Your Purpose must be both clear and simple so your community can easily understand it. Only then can it be transformed into a strategy that people can execute. Think about Purpose as a very concrete and specific description of your company’s direction, articulated in clear and concise language that is highly relevant to your specific business, and not a set of lofty platitudes that have universal applicability.
How is purpose different from strategy?
While some people would argue that your Purpose is to create a sustainable competitive advantage, it isn’t the same thing. Purpose is of a higher order, from which the strategy flows. Think of your strategy as “what” you will pursue to create that sustainable competitive advantage … informed by the values that establish “how” you will go about achieving the “why” that your Purpose directs. Go back to my earlier article, Why are you in business, to remind yourself of how important the “Why” is to your goals and objectives.
Ask your leadership team: Why are we here?
Try starting a meeting with your leadership team with this simple question: “Why are we here?” I suspect it will trigger a wide range of responses … and will likely reveal that your strategy is more of a vague mosaic than a tightly-woven tapestry that everyone clearly understands. Follow that by asking “Who am I serving?” … followed by “How can that help me create the highest and greatest value for the fulfillment of the company’s mission?” These simple questions will inevitably stimulate fresh thinking and a renewal of the various ways in which you can modify and update your Purpose to meet the current demands of a challenging economy.
Stay tuned as we wrap up and summarize this series
Next week, we’ll wrap up our L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. Series by summarizing the Cornerstones of Effective Leadership and see how these building blocks can be used to renew our commitment to successfully lead our companies.
This article was published in the August 22, 2011 edition of the North Bay Business Journal, a publication of the New York Times, and a weekly business newspaper which I have served as a regular columnist for over three years. The Business Journal covers the North Bay area of San Francisco – from the Golden Gate bridge north, including the Wine Country of Sonoma and Napa counties. The electronic version of this article, as published by the North Bay Business Journal, may be found here.
Lary Kirchenbauer is the president of Exkalibur Advisors, providing practical business strategies for family and other privately owned businesses in the middle market. Exkalibur works closely with senior executives and their businesses in the wine and other industries, and hosts the Exkalibur Leadership Forum for leaders of middle market companies in the North Bay. Please visit Exkalibur.com for a library of valuable resources, articles and insights or connect on Twitter, LinkedIN or the Exkalibur fan page on Facebook.
