+61 (0)419 866 427 mike@mikeschwarzer.com

I have ‘borrowed’ this title from Reid Hoffman’s, Co-Founder of LinkedIn, article “The Power of Purpose at Work”. The article provides an insight into what drives the culture of LinkedIn. It also shows how they managed the transition from a small group of co-founders to a global organisation of over 9000 staff while maintaining their purpose driven nature. For your convenience here is the link to it https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/power-purpose-work-reid-hoffman.

The words of this title are widely used and not unique. Yet the words and the title are not even that important. What’s more important is the meaning behind those words and the relevance to making change stick!

“Words have no meaning, other than the meaning that we give them!”

When I talk about meaning, I talk about embodied meaning. Purpose driven organisations don’t just pay lip service to their ‘purpose statement’, they bring it to life. They clearly know and have a strong sense of ‘WHY’ they exist, either by design or by default. That ‘WHY’ of existence is embodied in the fabric of their culture, how they interact with each other and how they serve their customers! It is expressed in their behaviours and the actions they take! It shows up in WHAT they do and HOW they do it.

So why should you care?

Have you ever spend time with someone that is passionate about what they do? Someone that has presence when they walk into a room? Someone that holds the attention of an audience with the presence of their energy? Someone that you feel drawn to?

They are aligned with ‘WHO’ they are and ‘WHY’ they do what they do! They are defined by ‘WHY’ they exist rather than by ‘What’ they do! When someone has that, it connects with the wider world! The world wants to be around people and organisations with that kind of energy.

Look around you and pay attention to the people and businesses that you interact with that are operating through their ‘WHY’. How do they engage? How do you feel around them?

Now imagine your organisation having that kind of an impact on its people and on its customers? Where people are drawn to you and your services?

In a world where you provide the same services and products as your competitors, ‘WHY’ counts!

So how do you define yourself? By ‘WHAT’ you do or by ‘WHY’ you do what you do? And how does that show up in the world?

To your highest and best




About Mike Schwarzer


For more information about Mike visit www.mikeschwarzer.com and www.thoughtleadingpeople.com.au.