It is quite amazing to see how businesses grow. From humble and inconspicuous beginnings, a spark of a brilliant idea meets the courage and enthusiasm of an entrepreneurial leader and over time and many challenges, the business or company end up as a great icon, symbol and example of a world changer.
Take for example the genus (and genius) of two Steves in a garage, powered by a dream to put a computer in every home. Decades later, that dream may not be a reality yet, but look at the impact of the company called Apple today. Would the founders have realised their potential impact 3 decades later on the world of culture, technology, music and entertainment, not to mention ideology and sociology?
What can businesses of today and the far future learn from such entrepreneurs who create and blaze a trail wherever they go and reinvent whatever they touch and influence whoever their products and services meet to create a better tomorrow?
If there’s anything to be learned, it must be this - that a company or business that exists to benefit others will achieve far greater impact than one which focuses on itself and what it can get from the world. Time and time again, you have companies that reinvent the way things are and as a result, people and the world benefit. Companies like Virgin, Apple, Sony, 3 and organisations like World Vision, WWF all have a purpose and mission that is greater than pure numbers and selling more boxes and gadgets. This purpose is what makes a company stand above its peers.
Long thought to be intangible, significance and purpose (or mission) of an organisation can be a powerful integrator and catalyst of intentions, culture, values and intellectual capital. As we journey into the knowledge and information age, companies that become and remain great will be those that leverage on the intangible assets of its people, relationships and ideas.
Is your company or business one of these rare and unique leaders of tomorrow? What can you do as a business leader to inculcate a renewed sense of purpose to your business and strive for greatness? Will your business live on to become your legacy when you are gone? What can you do to create and build a company that will eventually become greater and bigger than you will ever be? What will it do for the people today and tomorrow?
These are questions that every great business leader should ask of him or herself. Perhaps if we ask these of ourselves a bit more often, the world will change and become a better place for future generations.
Further reading : Success Built to Last : Creating a Life that matters (Jerry Porras, Steward Emery, Mark Thompson)
Article by David Cheah. Individuals’ views may not necessarily reflect those of Calibre.
