Oliver Wendell Holmes, U.S. Supreme Court Justice from 1902 to 1932, once said there are three kinds of people. First there are the five percent who make things happen, Next there are the fifteen percent who watch what’s happening. Finally, there is a great majority, as much as eighty percent, who have no idea what’s happening. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. – Wikipedia
The Five percent who make things happen are the leaders of the world.
Leadership is the single most important factor in the success or failure of a company, an entrepreneurial venture, a business or even a family. Leadership is the one factor that can have a greater influence over an organization or activity that an any other single factor at any particular time. If you are to be truly successful as an entrepreneur, you must become an excellent Leader in everything you do.
Study after study has shown that leaders are made NOT born. there is no leadership gene. Many people perform at average levels over several years and then, at a specific point in their lives, emerge as leaders in their organizations and in their communities.
It has been said that luck is preparation meeting opportunity. This is most certainly true of leaders. Whatever role you are performing today, whatever task you are carrying out, whatever challenge you are working to overcome, you can use this period of preparation for that moment whn you are called on to step beyond the role of worker or manager into the shoes of leadership. Preperatio is everything and greatly stated by Louis Pasture, French Biologist:
“In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.”
Every great leaer has an overarching Purpose in his life. It is what gets him up in the morning, inspires him throughout the day and fills his mind and warms his heart as he drifts off to sleep at night. It is his very reason for living.
So, too, the truly excellent business has a Purpose, a reason for existing that transcends top and bottom lines.
In the case of the individual, Purpose provides the answer to questions such as: “Why am I here?” or “What is it I’m meant to do?” or “What is the real meaning of my life?” The answer invariable relates to the way the person will contribute to leaving the world a better place for his children and his children’s children.
In this case of a business, Purpose is the underlying reason the organization exists. It is the way the organization plans to make a difference in the world, what it intends to do to improve the world in which it operates.
The Purpose of any organization is a direct reflection of the Purpose of its leader(s). A case in point is a gentleman by the name of Dee Hock. Dee Hock – Wikipedia
As is often the case, Hock’s Purpose had its roots in an early experience. In his first job following his graduation from college, his efforts to benefit his employer was undermined by a duplicitous supervisor who humiliated him and later fired him. In Hock’s words, “Within the year, a badly mauled lamb was out the door, much wiser in teh ways of hierarchal, command-and- control organizations and the people who hold power over them.”
In Hock’s anger at a business model that supports and even encourages such behavior, Hock discovered his purpose to contribute to the creation of a company that would ultimately evolve into the organization called VISA.
This extraordinary feat, judged as impossible by even his most ardent admirer, is a result of Dee Hock’s commitment to his purpose. The Dee Hock story is an intangible example of the power of Purpose, both in an individual’s life and in Business.
What is your Purpose?
What is the Purpose of your Business?
Are your Stakeholders aware of this Purpose?
Do they believe in it?
Do they share your passion for it?
Are they fully engaged in making it a reality?
If you do not have this in your business, let’s talk. Contact one of our Focal Point Business coaches to explore and implement.
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