Three minutes to midnight
This is the second in a new series of columns on our role in tackling the complicated economic, environmental and social challenges we face. It will be a place to question, offer, share, explore, challenge, dissent, celebrate, reflect, learn and enjoy
There is so much to celebrate from the recent Olympics and Paralympics. Something amazing happened and I sense it may take years for us to fully understand the impact and repercussions. But taking just one strand…
Lord Coe’s interviews, particularly in the final few days, revealed a pattern: the letter P. He spoke again and again about Passion, People, Performance, Partnership, Pride… and Purpose. It’s a great memory technique for interviews – and a great model for success.
It struck us that every organisation and venture – commercial, NGO, public body – could find a formula for success here. But what makes the difference between the organisations that are creating a brighter future and those that are increasingly vilified? The shift in Purpose – to something bigger, beyond self, beyond now, something like the ‘inspire a generation’. That changes everything.
We brought this up with Tom Rippin. Tom heads up the appropriately named On Purpose, a leadership development programme for next-generation social enterprise leaders. Young and committed potential high fliers are mentored fortnightly by business professionals, coached quarterly, and receive training and on-the-job experience.
Tom is well-placed to comment on the impact of purpose. He notices: “It’s the difference between the good and not-so-good companies. When people think of Apple they think first of beautifully designed objects that work brilliantly, not about them making money.” (Apple is now the biggest company in the world).
This ‘seeing beyond’, engages and motivates. And it’s actually shifting organisations. As Tom says, “There are various pressures on organisations for sustainability and social good – regulatory, (through) taxes, and consumer led (though there’s often a difference between what consumers say and how they behave at the till). Employees are the softer pressure point. I’m seeing lots of organisations doing more socially responsible things.”
It’s change from the inside. Because people want meaning in their work. The classic mid-life crisis is often a call for meaning, to answer ‘What is it all about?’ As Darius Norell of the Spring Project (a social enterprise that brings together jobseekers, recruiters and empty spaces to provide world-class training), is known to ask:
“If you’re going to have a mid-life crisis, when do you want to have it?”
And so to us coaches and mentors. If ever there is a profession to help individuals, and organisations, discover their purpose, it’s us.
It’s the conversations with us where the unsayable is said, the unquestionable questioned. Most profoundly, for those working with leaders, the question that at once carries so much wonder, possibility, challenge, dread and inspiration: “What are you leading for?”
Neil Scotton and Alister Scott are working with people and organisations leading and accelerating change for the better. They are launching their first Coach as Catalyst programme in the autumn for experienced coaches and mentors whose clients want to be more catalytic: www.enablingcatalysts.com
Alister Scott: alister@enablingcatalysts.com
Neil Scotton: neil@enablingcatalysts.com
Volume 7, issue 6