Throughout history, truly great companies and people have answered these questions: Who are we? What are we about?
It’s these questions that we’re ALL asking ourselves.
In fact, in an interview with Fast Company Magazine internationally known best-selling author Jim Collins, was asked the reasons for the success of his book Built to Last. His response was the need people have to “find meaning in life”:
“I never expected it to hit the way it did; and I can’t really explain the mysteries of the zeitgeist. Perhaps one factor is that it speaks to a deep human yearning to be better, always better. It turns out that a lot of people want to build something great, perhaps even enduring, as a way to find meaning in life.”
Truly effective people subscribe to this idea of purpose:
- Glen Allsop of Viperchill believes in an internal mission statement.
- Chris Guillebeau believes in a 140-character mission statement.
- Devin Hughes of Upstart Nation believes a personal mission statement becomes a necessity in one’s personal brand portfolio.
Purpose is the catalyst for all great companies and organizations.
It was the secret play of the late Steve Jobs.
When Jobs came back to Apple he came back to a mess: little to no market share, declining revenue, and a business almost on the verge of bankruptcy. He turned the company around simply by focusing on what the company had long overlooked: its core purpose.
According to Jobs:
“Apple was in serious trouble. Apple had to remember who Apple was because they’d forgotten who Apple was.”
We all know how that ended up!
But finding one’s purpose all boils down to finding one’s “sphere.” Without the sphere you won’t find your purpose, without your purpose you’l never truly be effective, and if you’re not effective you’ll be swallowed up in mediocrity.
“So how do I find my sphere?”
“What is my sphere?”
I’m glad you asked.
The answer is found in this guest post I did at Dan Miller’s blog . Head over there and discover your “sphere”!
This post was written by...
Michael – who has written 77 posts on The Simple Strategies for Startups Blog.
Michael is the an author, blogger, and speaker, Why not give me a shout on Google
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Very sneaky Mike! I love it!
Sometimes you gotta be sneaky in life John!
This quote is amazing, “Without your purpose you’ll never truly be effective, and if you’re not effective you’ll be swallowed up in mediocrity”. WOW! This is the truth Michael, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the mediocre swallowed up because they were not not effective. Awesome Post!
That is my own life experience. We all want to talk about accomplishment and not about purpose. But accomplishment means nothing without purpose. In fact, true accomplishment is found IN purpose. I’m glad you enjoyed it Lincoln!
It’s a powerful statement!!!!
Thanks Dan!
WOW, getting a guest post on Dan Millers blog is HUGE man!!! So proud of you.
Finding our personal purpose is so important if we expect to lead others. Heading over to Dan’s blog!
Thanks Dan! Dan…Miller
was really great about it. He is such a standup guy…and it was a real honor to post on his blog!
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