Discovering Your Purpose

DISCOVERING YOUR PURPOSE

Are you in business to make money or to make money and change the world? Haley Rushing, founder of GSD&M's Purpose Institute, will explain how she and her team of social scientists dig deep into a company's historical psyche to understand then define its purpose. The benefit of that exam work: companies with a well-defined purpose tend to have stronger levels of word of mouth and customer evangelism. Haley will provide you some of the knowledge and tools to examine and define your organization's purpose.

What is a purpose? A definitive statement about the difference that you are trying to make in the world.

Companies with good purposes:

EX: Southwest Airlines:To give people the freedom to fly.

SWA is the perfect example of how you purpose can take your company from good to great.  Herb - not in the airline business, in the freedom business (freedom fighters, parade - get word of mouth but rooted in purpose SWA)

EX: Whole Foods: To provide choices for nurishing hte body, the community and the planet

EX: Healthways: To create a healthier America one person at a time

Purpose Drives Everything

Hedgehog vs. Fox - does this help us fulfill our purpose.

EX: SWA - open seating (freedom); Ding (innovation) - desktop widget on deals

Purpose Turns Employees into Evangelists

Which response do you think an employee would rather give to this question: what do you do for a living?

1: I load bags onto airplanes.

2. I give people the freedom to fly. (ie. i help grandma's see their families during christmas)

Purpose is a path to high performance

*Organizations driven by purpose and values outperform the general market 15:1 (Jim Collins)

*outperform convential ompetitors 8:1 on stock market (firms of endearment)

*revenue grew 4x faster (Harvard)

Purpose lead to sustainable and meaningful wod of mouth

EX: Don't mess with Texas

Purpose +Relevance = WOM

ACE: how to enter the conversation naturally

Objective: make higher education a priority in America

Changed higher eduction value from personal benefit to 3 pillars:

1) personal opportunity - self-sufficincy - less social burden - less crime - more jobs

2) knowlege and innovation - progress - advancing society- alternative fuels/anti-terrorism

3) informed democracy - critical thinking - less closed minds/more creativity - less racism/21st century problem solving

PURPOSE: transform lives for the betterment of society (www.solutionsforourfuture.org)

Marketing - made it easy to tell their story. (http://www.youtube.com/solutions4ourfuture)

American Legacy Foundation: how to enter the conversation at precisely the right moment

Purpose: Creating a world where teens reject tobacco and anyone can quit

Solution: http://www.becomeanex.org/#learn_overview That looked at not only reasons people smoke but when they smoke.

Wal-Mart: how to tell your side of the story and join the conversation