As business leader, how can we do better tomorrow than we did today?

Watch now on YouTube. Click Here

It’s become popular for business leaders to talk about purpose and impact.

You have to focus on all of your stakeholders. You can’t afford to be tone-deaf in today’s social climate.

But that’s not what we are talking about when we say purpose.

That’s not what we mean when we speak about impact.

It’s about total alignment. It’s much more personal.

As the head of my company, I want to act 100% in step with my values and create a massive impact that lasts for all time.

There is no life / work divide.

That’s who I want to be.

Total alignment.

And as a business leader, I approach every decision with that mindset.

The best-selling book “Built to Last” captures exactly what we believe a business can be.

The authors discovered that when companies operationalize their strong set of values they outperform their competitors 15x.

Literally.

1,500% better.

They call these unique businesses: “visionary companies."

And the critical question asked by a visionary company is not:

"How well are we doing?"

Or, "how can we do well?"

Or, "how well do we have to perform in order to meet the competition?"

For these companies, the most important question is:

"How can we do better tomorrow than we did today?"

Visionary companies institutionalize this question as a way of life — a habit of mind and action.

How can we get closer to our vision of everything wonderful a company can be?

Moving these questions from reflection to action, and then from action to SOPs, might just be the most important thing we can do as business leaders.