“Don’t tell people what you do…tell them why you do it”
(Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action, TED Talks)
Mission-driven companies are forces to be reckoned with. Usually born out of a strong founder-led culture, mission-driven companies consistently outperform the competition. True passion for a mission is not something leaders can fake.
APPLE
Apple was a mission-driven company. Steve Jobs had a passion for combining technology with beautiful design. He was relentless in his pursuit of that mission. Other competent companies manufacture cell-phones and other devices, but none of them have developed the cult following of Apple. Only Apple achieved the status of being the most valuable company in the world, surpassing both Exxon and Microsoft. Steve Jobs never let his company forget why they went to work each day. He was on a mission to combine technology with beautiful design.
TESLA
Elon Musk hasn’t just built a global automotive company. He has built a company that will help wean the world off its addiction to fossil fuels. That is his mission. Everything they do at Tesla is designed to create attractive battery-powered transportation that consumers will find efficient, green, and affordable. A Tesla should be so attractive, Elon Musk believes, that everyone will want to own one thereby abandoning the use of fossil fuels in the process.
YOUR NONPROFIT
All nonprofits are started with a mission in mind. Somewhere along the line, however, most begin to talk to donors and employees about what they do, not why they do it. They report metrics about how many poor families they fed in the past year, then write a “mission statement” about how they feed hungry children. Rarely do they tell employees or donors why they went to all the trouble.
START WITH WHY
When talking to employees and donors, nonprofits must learn to talk about why they do what they do, not simply what they do and for whom. The passion involved in Apple and Tesla goes beyond sales cycles and day-to-day business operations because the founders built the business around the why.
Most of us are inclined to communicate the clearest notion first, the what. Then we move on to the fuzzier notion, the how. Then, perhaps, finally get to the why.
We must learn to reverse this communication. Start with why your nonprofit exists in the first place. Then communicate how you intend to achieve your mission, and finally report what you’ve done in the past. Just by starting with why you will communicate your passion and conviction to all stakeholders.
Here’s a few examples of great mission-driven companies who focus on the why.
- Life Is Good – A tee shirt company whose mission is to spread the power of optimism.
- Honest Tea – Seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages.
- IKEA – To create a better everyday life for a large number of people by keeping prices low on well-designed functional home furnishing.
- Cradles to Crayons – To provide children from birth through age 12 with essential items they need to thrive. We supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need.
At Global Vision Technologies, we have our own purpose, our why: “Through technology and expertise we close the gap between human and services.” Our core mission is our ability to change the lives of social workers by solving the impossible.
