It has to be bigger than just me...

It happened Thursday night, finally. It has taken six months of deep soul searching, a webinar, a book, an online course on the foundation of sales and lots of prayer but I finally had my “ah-ha” moment at 10:15pm that night. Here is how it happened…

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine provided much needed time to reconnect with family, get off the hamster wheel of life I was running on, take a deep breath and reflect. Not only were there changes happening in our world with uncertainty surrounding a global pandemic and civil unrest that caused intense anxiety, but I was given a "promotion" that landed me firmly in unchartered waters. Never to be one in a boat without oars, a compass or motor for long, I asked for help and began working with an executive coach on the skills I needed to develop or nurture to be a good leader for my small but mighty team of four incredible sales managers. The experience is one I will forever be grateful for and I am incredibly proud of our team and accomplishments through the pandemic, but something was still not right though I could not put my finger on what was exactly wrong. It has been very unsettling for months.

So, I began soul searching. I thought my unhappiness stemmed from something deeper, maybe even depression or that I lost my mojo in sales, so I took a 30-hour course learning about selling SaaS products (nothing like continuing education when you are stuck at home in the middle of winter in Colorado), I networked on LinkedIn meeting incredible folks from other industries but nothing I did seemed to resolve my emptiness. 

My best friend was promoted to an executive role within her company whereby she helps companies focus on their purpose, so I began researching a phrase I have heard used in corporate America called “purpose driven”. “What the heck does that mean?” I thought to myself. Then I started googling the term and companies that are driven by purpose and I happened upon a webinar being conducted through LinkedIn by CIPD London called “Creating a Purpose-Driven Organisational Culture.” There were three panelists conducting the webinar and one of them, Sarah Rozenthuler, introduced a book she wrote that was published last year called “Powered by Purpose: Energise your people to do great work.” I was in awe of the webinar, bought Sarah’s book and continued my research on what makes a purpose-driven organization different than the rest of corporate America.

I finally had the opportunity to begin reading the book last week and as I read the foreword by former CEO of Unilever, Paul Polman, I knew I was on to something. 

Have you ever started reading a book and find yourself physically shaking your head, “YES!” while frantically highlighting sentences in the book that speak to you and at the same time, poking your husband/partner at midnight, waking him/them up from a dead sleep to excitingly share the good news, “Honey, you will NOT believe this! Did you know that ‘Purpose is the connective tissue that pulls a team together? It is the glue that strengthens an organization. It is the motivating force that unites an ecosystem of diverse stakeholders to engage with one another,” to which he/they roll over and give you an epic eye roll! Yea, that was me this week with this book (and that was not even the first chapter, that was just in Sarah’s personal introduction prior to Chapter One). Last week provided the “a-ha” moment I have been searching for. 

Sarah shared a well-known story about President John F. Kennedy visiting NASA in 1962 and this is what turned my world upside down!

President Kennedy was touring the facility when he saw a janitor standing off to the side with a broom. He broke away from the tour, approached the gentleman and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?”

“Well, Mr. President,” the janitor responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” 

It was that sentence that put the puzzle pieces together for me. It was that paragraph that screamed, “YOU MUST HAVE PURPOSE!”

As I look back over my non-linear yet successful career there are three jobs that I have had where, at times during my tenure, I felt immeasurable amounts of happiness.

American Heart Association – I cannot remember my title, but I vividly remember what I did. I had the opportunity to educate elementary-aged children in poorer communities in southwest Texas about the importance of eating right and exercising. The outcome from the activity is you prevent heart disease and the by-product of the children’s buy-in is I increased revenue in my territory by 80% and won every sales award that was given away in 2006 by raising money for Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart.

National Restaurant Association – I held several titles in my nine years with the company but when asked, “What do you do?” my response was always the same, “I help save lives, I just didn’t have to go to medical school.” We offered restaurateurs, the military and anyone else in a foodservice role the opportunity to ensure they cooked and handled foods safely preventing foodborne illness outbreaks. And with those currently incarcerated, we offered a future after they got out of prison. We did all of this by selling food and alcohol safety training and certification, but we knew we delivered much more than a product. We offered security, piece-of-mind and for inmates, a future in an industry that is more forgiving of those with non-violent felonies.

Deep River Snacks – My team offers a healthier snack and gives back to charity. As a mom, I love that I can offer my daughter a bag of chips and not feel too guilty about it, but the real beauty is that we are helping charities that serve a higher calling when we buy the product. The mission of our company is what drives each-and-every person that sells the product which is why our sales have grown exponentially over the past 17 years. 

What is the common thread that brings all these jobs together for me? It is PURPOSE! The reason for me being there had/has very little to do with me since I am serving and offering something much larger than myself. 

Statistics show purpose-led brands saw their valuation surge by 175% over the past 12 years, versus a growth rate of just 70% for companies not driven by purpose. (Kantar 2018) And 83% of Gen Z, the largest growth generation currently in or entering the job market, say they consider a company's purpose when deciding where to work. (Cone/Porter Novelli 2019)

This leads me to a final question. If the statics show an increase in sales and overall job satisfaction for employees (which means less turn-over), what is holding back your company from deciding its purpose or at least serving something more than the bottom line? The answer seems simple to me, just do it!