Business and doing good

In leadership, we now frequently talk about purpose. It’s mainstream and it’s powerful.

Business can be a lever for doing good in our communities, and for making a better world.

If you haven’t come across the concept of B Corp Certification previously, I urge you to watch this video. You don’t have to go down the certification route, but Bart Houlahan really does impart how powerful a genuine strategic desire to do good can be

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Pondering Upon Purpose

I found myself musing business ‘purpose’ this morning. Being awake at 3:oo am leads to some interesting (or is that confusing) thinking.

To borrow and ‘repurpose’ a phrase “you don’t choose a passion, a passion chooses you”.

So many good people are out there helping organisations to identify and/clarify their purpose. To help people realise why they do, what they do – why they get up in the morning and go to work.

Passion and purpose are generally seen as different but I wonder, are they the result of conscious decisions or something within your DNA? Perhaps it’s both?

With purpose being such a growing philosophy, I just wonder how many of us are deriving a purpose from what we are already doing as opposed to doing what delivers our purpose.

An optimist may have the view that we are arriving at our purpose, either consciously or sub-consciously, because of the passion and values within our DNA.

A cynic might think we are deriving a purpose simply as a business strategy, not as an outcome for our authentic passion.

The realist could say it’s probably both.

What do you think?

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Authentically authentic!

Two years ago I posted my definition of authenticity.

Authentic is still one of the current buzz words and for me, once I see a word being used in discussions around mainstream marketing, I know it’s been well and truly kidnapped.

Authentic is a word we should be using and to help reclaim it, here are some further thoughts on what it means:

To be authentic, it is not enough to know your values, you must be your values.

You have to live your values, not just talk about them.

You have to be real and always show your true self.

Your actions must always be congruent with your beliefs and values – irrespective of what pressures you may be under.

Don’t try to live anyone else’s values, people will find out!

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What’s hiding the bright future!

I have just flipped through the presentations made to the NZ Disability Support Network annual conference last month.

Conferences talk about great things and that saddens me.

I’m sad not because I don’t want to see great support, transformational change and awesome outcomes. Quite the opposite.

I’m sad because the current environment can’t supply sufficient (and capable) staff to meet even basic support needs. Adequate housing is becoming unaffordable. We’re still not putting any effort into reducing the appalling health outcomes for people with an intellectual disability. True inclusion is still so far away in many parts of society (how often do we talk about disability in conversations about diversity?).

I want to believe in a bright future, a future where a person drives the support they need and sees a world that genuinely accepts them for who they are.

I want a world where it doesn’t take over four years to get staff to help prepare frozen meals so people can have a good dinner on nights when their support doesn’t show up!

So what’s hiding a bright future? Current reality!

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