The Ambitious Professional Services Firm’s Manifesto: Attracting People and Clients to a Better Future with Your Firm

For ambitious firms, there is a need to grasp human context when pursuing a corporate vision that leads to a better future. The path to a better future is fraught with uncertainty, but it is precisely this uncertainty that must be embraced, not avoided, if one is to steer their firm toward a future worth aspiring to.?

A well formed strategy after all, should be used as an instrument of persuasion, designed to reshape minds and capture hearts—both of the People you employ and the Clients they serve.

For a firm that seeks to extricate itself from low-margin projects delivered by commodity or procedural services, the challenge is clear: you must attract People and Clients to a vision of the future that is both compelling and irresistible. This is no small task. It requires purpose, focus, and an unwavering commitment to commercial goals that are rooted in a profound understanding of your most valuable Clients’ needs. It demands the cultivation of competitive advantages that are documented, lived and breathed by your organisation.

Articulate your strategy as you will, but remember: the most vital element is to strive for excellence—becoming better in terms of capabilities, in understanding your Clients to the point of anticipating their needs before they know them, and in delivering value that transcends mundane tasks. It’s about value that cannot be quantified in an hourly rate.

Understanding Human Context

The hope for a better future is a timeless aspiration of humankind. Yet, to create a future of real impact—one that leaves a legacy to be proud of—requires more than mere hope. It demands a clear vision that connects people to experiences where collaboration, challenge, recognition, and achievement are not just outcomes, but the very fuel of motivation.

Consider the Swedish concept of Folkhemmet, the “People’s Home,” as conceived by Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson in the 1940s. It was a vision of society as a family, united by shared purpose and manifested in the iconic Swedish trinity: the villa, the vovve, the Volvo (Home, dog, car). This vision unified Sweden; propelling it to global prominence, birthing multinational giants like Ericsson, IKEA, and Volvo.

From this era sprang a culture of innovation that continues to thrive today, with Sweden giving rise to modern-day ‘unicorns’ like Spotify and Klarna. The lesson is clear: when you tap into human needs for collaboration, challenge, recognition, and achievement, you unlock a powerful force—one that can attract and unite, inspire hope, and drive shared purpose.

But how do you harness these motivational forces to craft a vision of the future that can galvanise both your team and your Clients? How do you make every member of your firm, and every Client, feel that they are part of something larger, something profoundly important?

The Pull of the Future

Two visionary thinkers, Fred Polak and Kenneth Boulding, shared an insight that is as relevant today as ever: we are shaped by two forces—one that pushes us toward the future through the decisions we make, and one that pulls us forward through the dreams we dare to dream. Ask yourself: have you made decisions with your strategy that are irreversible, that set your course firmly toward a better future? And if so, what systems are in place to ensure that your People and Clients are guided toward these decisions?

Equally important is the pull of your dreams. John F. Kennedy’s declaration that “we choose to go to the moon” was a call to arms for an entire nation. How powerful is your own engine of development? Where are your services being used, and to what end? How boldly do you dare to dream?

Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of General Electric, once warned that when external change outpaces internal development, the end is near. Polak echoed this sentiment, noting that the end is near when we no longer know where we are going. Every firm must ask itself: are we evolving faster than the world around us? And if not, how do we begin? How do we bring to fruition a vision of the future that is so compelling, so attractive, that our People, Clients, and suppliers cannot help but join us on the journey?

A World in Flux

Let us return to Sweden, because the news is not all premium pickled herring. Over the past two decades, the proportion of Swedes who say their lives lack meaning has risen dramatically—from 6% to 24%. Among young men, the figure is a staggering 35%. Australia, too, faces similar challenges, with rising anxiety, depression, and the profound societal shifts brought on by COVID-19. The Australian dream of home ownership, once a cornerstone of national identity, is under threat from political and economic forces.

It seems that more and more people are finding life barren, devoid of meaning. Social media has exacerbated this, offering not just a comparison with our neighbours but with the perfectly curated lives of strangers. Physical connections have withered, replaced by digital distractions. And as AR, VR, and the Metaverse continue to evolve, it is difficult to see how or when this trend will reverse.

The notion of Folkhemmet, as mentioned earlier, parallels the Australian dream. But since the early 2000s, these aspirations have begun to unravel. The world as we knew it was transformed by the events of September 11, the Iraq war, the financial crisis, the refugee crisis, the climate crisis, the culture war, and most recently, the war in Ukraine. The prosperity of Western civilisation, once a source of pride and progress, now seems more like a burden, teetering on the edge of being squandered.

Into this new human context which your people and clients of today and tomorrow are affected by, your firm’s brand must find its place, establishing roots that can thrive in a world increasingly defined by alienation and disconnection.

A Grand Vision

Perhaps the issue of purpose goes beyond social media, stress, or the decay of social bonds. It could be that we are suffering from a deeper malaise—a lack of vision, a lack of a future worth living for, a lack of something grander than ourselves.

As the world changes, so too must your firm. The future demands new ways to create value, new mindsets for work, and new means of delivering value to Clients that competitors find hard to replicate. It may even require a complete reimagining of how you do business—a move away from hourly rates or project fees to models that allow you to make money while you sleep.

The opportunity before you is to create a better future, to build a better firm—one that moves faster than the world around it, that deeply motivates its People and Clients, and that envisions a future that benefits humanity as a whole.

And as you journey toward that future, ensure you attract the right People and Clients to join you and contribute.