Growing Businesses With Purpose

Purpose is more than a mere buzzword, it is the key intrinsic driving force that propels us towards creating meaningful impacts. Today, we speak with Joescher Chee, founder of 10XCEOs, to learn more about the purpose that fuels his vision to make businesses a force of good, and the actionable steps he takes to achieve his purpose.

FERVANT: Could you briefly introduce your company, 10XCEOs, to the readers at The Success Catalyst?

Joescher: We focus on strategy coaching for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs, with the purpose of creating businesses that matter to the world and making them a force of good. Not only do we empower businesses and provide solutions for their problems, we also seek to create an impact on entrepreneurs themselves through character building. This is why we can confidently say our results delivered last a lifetime beyond business.

FERVANT: We would love to hear more about how 10X approaches coaching, in order to achieve the company’s purpose of creating businesses that matter and making them a force for good.

Joescher: We ground our approach in our vision which focuses on three P&Ls: Profit & Loss, Passion & Love, and Purpose & Life. For an organisation that wants to be profitable, Profit & Loss is undoubtedly the most important to them. However, because we are very clear on our purpose to transform businesses into a force for good, we see the need to also focus on the other two P&Ls simultaneously.?

A business is not simply about profit — branding matters as well. We know that it’s not easy building a brand, therefore we focus on Passion & Love to create a successful brand because branding starts from how passionate you are about your business. Only when you can express your passion and love for your brand, can you convince your customers and employees how great your business is. Otherwise, relationships with your customers become mere transactions and numbers.

The last P&L, Purpose & Life, refers to your purpose as a leader. Purpose is becoming more important nowadays, especially among the younger generation. They are curious about the organisation's purpose and how it is going to impact their lives and others in society. Now, hiring and retaining talent is not just paying them a good salary and expecting them to work for you, it’s about whether the work is meaningful enough for them to continue working in the organisation. Even consumers are increasingly only buying products from companies that share their values — they don’t just look at whether the product is good, they also consider the company behind the product.

FERVANT: What is one challenge 10X faces in inspiring people, and how does 10X overcome this challenge?

Joescher: Inspiration is a choice, we cannot make people believe in our purpose and accept our advice if they do not wish to. Hence, it is important to choose our clients well, to choose those who are willing to listen and learn.?

When we select our clients, we use an evaluation criteria called ‘coach’, which stands for coachable, obedient, action, care, and hunger. It is impossible to target everyone and the truth is there’s only a certain type of people that fits what we are looking for. So, this criteria ensures that we can spend our time and effort helping those that need it and are willing to be helped.?

The first thing we look out for is whether you are coachable. We look for people with an entrepreneurial mindset — this means you see the gaps and want to create great value in the organisation or the corporate world. It also means that you have the courage, humility, and foresight to engage a coach.?

The second criterion is obedience, which is very challenging because there is a negative connotation surrounding obedience. However, obedience can be a good virtue, for example, you are obedient in operating a legal and ethical business. You’d be surprised that this value is hard to find in entrepreneurs because most entrepreneurs tend to have the mindset that they want to do their own thing and are not inclined to listen to anyone. This group of people is thus not our target audience.?

We also look for action-driven people. They must be willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty in the beginning. Another aspect of our criteria is care, meaning that they need to care for their employees and customers rather than being only profit-driven. This is important for us because we want to grow businesses that matter.

Last but not least, hunger refers to their desire for growth. There are people who wish to stop coaching because they think the results they have achieved are sufficient. However, there is no such thing as stopping or maintaining where you are at now when you can grow so much more.?

Although it may take time to thoroughly evaluate our potential clients, I would much rather spend 80% of my time identifying the right audience than spend 80% of my time convincing the wrong clients to be our clients. Time is short, and each coach can only take on a few clients, so it’s key to choose the right clients to go on this lifelong journey with us.?

FERVANT: We can definitely sense the passion you have for helping businesses from your team itself. Could you share more about the 10X team culture?

Joescher: I’m a firm believer that culture is intrinsically linked to one’s identity, and examples include languages or dialects like Hokkien or Hakka. At 10X, we have our signature battle cry called “Hey Hey Ho!”, which is adapted from the samurai culture, which we take great inspiration from when cultivating the culture here at 10X. We see ourselves as servants and warriors, just as samurais were.?

When we go for competitions, we say it as a battle cry to center ourselves in the mindset that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so we need to put our best foot forward.? It also serves as a way to unite everyone together as a team. It has become such an irreplaceable part of our culture that I bring it to the clients. In fact, over the years, quite a number of our clients or coaches who left created their version of this battle cry globally.?

Some people find it weird or cultish, but it’s our culture defined by the belief that we are going to transform businesses into a force for good. And the people that join us are those who share the same belief as well.

FERVANT: What is the motivation behind what you do as a strategy coach and founder of 10X?

Joescher: At the core of everything, I strongly believe in coaching. I believe it in so much that when I first started my business at 23, I engaged 5 coaches ranging from business to spiritual coaches. The reason for this is because I felt that there was a lot of knowledge that I was missing and I was hungry for more knowledge in the different areas of life. While coaching was not my original business, it has become my core focus today because I truly believe in the power of coaching.

What drives me to do what I do is the fact that I am able to transform and touch businesses and lives because I feel that it adds so much value to my life. It is my greatest joy to see whatever I plant growing into something. I’m no longer driven by achievement like when I was younger. I like to think that my life is divided into two halves. The first half is all about chasing after success, however, in the second half the focus is on searching for a meaningful life.?

FERVANT: What constitutes a meaningful or purposeful life for you?

Joescher: I think purpose is a simple yet big question that everyone will ask themselves at least once in their life. Most people tend to ponder over this only when they’re near their deathbed, but that leaves us with a very short timeframe to truly do the things we want to do. Therefore, I think it’s a blessing in disguise that I had a close-to-death experience when I was 17 when I was attacked by a group of gangsters because this kickstarted my journey of finding purpose very early on in my life.?

That brings me to my purpose statement, which I’ve been refining over the years. It goes like this: to live life in all its fullness in the ten areas of life; to inspire, influence, and illuminate the path for leaders; to be the best I can to serve God and people. While I keep evolving as a person, my purpose statement has remained unchanging. It is who I aspire to become.?

FERVANT: Going back to your business, how has your purpose shaped the way you run your business?

Joescher: I believe that for a leader to inspire or touch lives, they need a platform, and these platforms can be in any form. For example, a business or a club can be a platform. So, I see myself as a community builder who uses platforms to fulfill my purpose of inspiring many lives. Together with my friends, we’ve put together about 50 platforms.

Out of these 50 platforms, only seven of them are profitable — this includes my business. I see my business as an important platform of mine to touch the lives of others because we spend almost two-thirds of our lives working, so work is one major way in which people can live out their purpose.?

FERVANT: From what you’ve shared, we can tell you are a very driven and action-oriented individual. Could you share with us how you plan on achieving your purpose?

Joescher: I have a life planning system, which consists of three bases: legacy, horizon, and goal.?

Starting from legacy, I consider what I hope to achieve in the various areas of my life on the day I die. Thereafter, I plan the horizon, which is the next 10 years or so. I ask myself how do I want to see myself in this area of life, while ensuring that it aligns with the ultimate legacy I want to leave behind. Finally, I will plan out my goals for the coming year that will allow me to achieve what I want to achieve in the horizon.?

Ultimately, the legacy I want to leave behind is to be a person who lives a life in all its fullness and inspires many to live a John 10:10 life.

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Business coach, entrepreneur and author - Gloria has helped over 3,000 entrepreneurs build their businesses from the ground up. Gloria believes that sales is all about establishing rapport and nurturing valuable business relationships towards win-win outcomes.

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The Success Catalyst shines the spotlight on inspiring individuals who are action takers. Centered on topics such as coaching, training, leadership, entrepreneurship, and certifications, it is a community newsletter that aims to add value to your life and business.

FERVANT helps communities amplify their voice, one story at a time. We work to foster connections, engage your audience, and grow a thriving community for you.?All editorial rights reserved. Connect with FERVANT on LinkedIn.

About today's guests on The Success Catalyst:

Find out more about 10XCEOs here.

Or connect with today's guest: Joescher Chee on LinkedIn.