14 Apr Who Has Time for This?
There is an old story about a man whose horse and carriage were stuck in the middle of a muddy stream when along came a philosopher who asked him, “Hey friend, have you thought about what the meaning of life is?” To which the man replied with disdain, “Can’t you see I am stuck in the mud and don’t have time for a silly question like that!”
As someone who has been speaking about Purpose in business and life for over thirty years, I think a lot about that story these days. With global uncertainty, political turmoil, tariffs and rumours of recession, why would any business or leader focus on purpose with all this going on?
Well let me make the case that this is EXACTLY the time that purpose matters. Think about times in your own life when you had to overcome adversity, a time when you had to keep going even though things were difficult. I’m guessing the thing that got you through was focusing on why it mattered that you kept fighting.
As many of you know, my most popular book is Stepping Up in which I feature stories of people and teams that stepped up to make good things happen. When leaders ask me how to get their people to Step Up, I always ask this question, “Why should they step up?” Why does it matter that your company succeeds, that your products and services get in the hands of the people who need them? In other words, what’s your purpose?
In my experience, when times get challenging, we tend to start focusing too much on the numbers and not nearly enough on why it matters that we move the numbers. One of my current clients is FM, a large global property insurance company that insures properties for some of the largest companies in the world. They have a powerful stated purpose: We help protect your purpose. Yes, they insure properties, but their purpose is to help companies keep fulfilling and succeeding at their purpose. For that reason, they don’t simply cover your risk, the team of engineers and professionals help their customers prepare for, mitigate and avoid risk.
I’m pretty sure if a recession does come (they always do) that the team at FM will continue to pour their hearts into winning because winning isn’t just about numbers, it’s about this hundred- year-old plus company doing what it has always done-fulfill its purpose to protect their client’s purpose.
And if you think this doesn’t matter in your own life, remember that when we know our purpose and focus on it, research shows we are happier, more resilient and live longer.
So, if you or year team feel stuck in the mud, you might want to remember an old Zen saying: Meditate for fifteen minutes a day unless you are very busy, in which case mediate for an hour. In other words, staying connected to what really matters is even more important when things are tough. That way you and your people can remember why you started crossing that muddy stream in the first place.
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