Leadership learnings – Purpose

Leadership learnings – Purpose

What is the Purpose of business? Is it just there to make money??

I’m on a journey of exploring and unpacking a series of leadership topics, filming the conversations with the aim of learning and catching some top leadership insights, that can help encourage and equip you and I to become better leaders this year.

In my second interview I had the privilege of meeting with Dave Linton, founder of the award-winning business MADLUG (Make a Difference Luggage).?We chatted around the area of ‘Purpose’ in a business, and I got an opportunity to learn how to become a better leader and how to apply this to business.

Here’s my Top 3 leadership leanings and insights from the interview with Dave.?

Making money is important, but it’s what we use the money for that counts

My first question to Dave was ‘What is the Purpose of business??Surely, it’s just there to make money, right??

Dave was straight to the point in saying that ‘Yes, a business does exist to make money, to make a profit', but he continued to say, ‘It’s what we use that money for.’

It struck me that if a business does not have a purpose beyond just making money, then it is perhaps missing out on an opportunity to use its profits to help others?

I guess I’ve seen a lot of leaders realise through the challenges of Covid/Brexit (and the current Ukraine/Russia conflict), that there is a so much out of our control in modern business.?People seem to be almost soul searching to figure out what is the point, relevance and ultimately the purpose of business.?Listening to Dave share about the mission and purpose he has in his organisation, to use their profits to gift bags to children in care. was hugely inspiring. ??Definitely food for thought.

The message (purpose) needs to be clear

Dave spoke a lot during our interview about the importance of clarifying your message.?About telling your story, your purpose.?

To provide a clear message, Dave explained that you first need to understand the problem you want to solve.?Then communicate how you are going to fix this, then finally positing yourself/business as a ‘guide’ to the marketplace and inviting them into your story.?Dave often recapped in our interview the Madlug story of wanting to give children in care the worth, value and dignity they deserve by trying to gift as many of them as possible with a bag, rather than them having to carry their belongings in a black bin bag (heart breaking to realise this is what often happens to the 40,000 kids a year in the care system when they are relocated).

I found this highly interesting and to be fair I can now see that most customers don’t really worry so much about the length of time your company has been trading, or how nice your office is; but more about the problem you can help solve for them, right??

As a leader, to effectively clarify your business message to a meaningful sentence is quite difficult, but something I am now seeing as a key factor in telling the story of what our business does and how it can help solve our clients’ problems in a simple and effective way.

Be authentic

‘What makes for a great leader?’

When I put this question to Dave he made a profound statement:-

‘A great leader is someone who is authentic.’

The word authentic means to be genuine; real.?It also conveys that the leader can be believed or accepted; trustworthy and reliable.

Wow, these are values and attributes that I aspire to be known for.?As Dave shared this statement about being an authentic leader, it made me hope that in the midst of all the unexpected and on-going changes and challenges we all face each day, that hopefully we are rising up to be authentic leaders in our spheres of influence, in business, in our families and in our communities.

A healthy and thriving marketplace…

Friends, I really hope this has been helpful.?As someone who is passionate about seeing a healthy and thriving marketplace, where business leaders can connect, encourage, and learn from one another, my heart for this leadership mini-series is that it will help you and I become a better leader this year.

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Dave and the MADLUG team, please check them out and consider buying one of their bags so they can gift one to a child in care.?You can also watch the full video interview online by searching for ‘Emtek Ireland’ on YouTube.

Take care, keep going and have a fantastic day.

Best wishes

Neil