A purpose-driven private dinner event

When it comes to events and gatherings, sometimes you have to take a risk and put your idea out there to see if it gets traction, and that's exactly what Carolyn Butler-Madden and I did with our first Igniting Purpose private dinner event.

It turns out we needn't have worried as we filled the table in a semi-private dining room at a wonderful Thai restaurant in Sydney (see our short video by Siena Nisavic ).

Those attending expressed their desire for more events in the future.

Why this?

What we've found is that purpose-driven leaders want to do more than ‘give a little bit back’, they want to embed purpose across their business and scale up their impact.

? They have a growth and abundance mindset.

? They believe business must be a force for positive change.

? They want their people to feel energised and connected to the purpose of their organisation when they come to work every day.

? They thrive in navigating the tensions between people, planet and profits.

? They intuitively ‘get’ the power of purpose in delivering high-performance and defining their leadership legacy.

? They are generally supported by their organisations, but because they are pushing the envelope, they may feel a bit 'lonely' in their endeavours.

We attribute the popularity of our dinner events to their desire to be with people who are like them, and the opportunity they have to share their challenges and successes.

Guest speakers

We invite a guest speaker to our events. In this case it was Simonie Fox who is Head of Shared Value Partnerships at AIA Australia .

It's easy to philosophise about purpose, but much harder to tap into the secret sauce of bringing it to life at the coalface of businesses.

At this event, we learned about the various initiatives Simonie's worked on over many years and how purpose needs to be viewed through a value creation lens - not a risk management or compliance exercise.

AIA aims to help customers live healthier, longer and better lives, and we learned how their purpose-driven mindset and lens for innovation supports that process.

You can find out more in this recent newsletter.

Why us and why now?

Between us, Carolyn and I have written 3 books on purpose in business, launched 3 purpose-based podcasts into the world and have a combined 28-years of experience in this field, so we have good networks to draw upon.

In case you missed it earlier, to get a better sense for us and our events, here's the link to a short video from the night:

We love connecting with purpose-driven leaders, and one way to do that is right here .

Let me know your thoughts on this and feel free to tag people in your network who you think would get value from it.

Yours on Purpose

Phil Preston

Phil Preston is the founder of WhyThisNow, supporting purpose-driven leaders, teams and organisations in realising their potential. He is a strategist, speaker, author and facilitator who can be contacted via LinkedIn message or [email protected]