“Just as people cannot live without eating, so a business cannot live without profits. But most people don’t live to eat, and neither must businesses live just to make profits.”
– John Mackey, Whole Foods
In his introduction at MeWe’s 2020 online member’s retreat, our CEO Kevin Osborne talks about the importance of knowing your purpose, and why this underpins the approach to MeWe’s development programme for creative entrepreneurs.
Why focus on purpose
The sessions over the next few days will focus on your dreams, aspirations & the deeper purpose behind your projects. I always have a concern that many of you will see this kind of work as nebulous, a distraction from running your businesses. But the reason MeWe focuses on these topics is because we know that being connected to your deeper purpose not only drives the success of your business, but also your personal wellbeing.
90% of issues our members bring situs judi parlay to us are linked to either not having a clear purpose for their projects, or contradictions between their deeper purpose and the way they run their business.
If we do nothing else, I’d like you to walk away from the retreat understanding, the importance of connecting to your deepest purpose (whatever that might be) and; understanding why doing that will really improve the decisions you make for yourself and your business; so that you see the tangible link between knowing your purpose and the success MAXBET of your project.
My own purpose, lost and found
Let me give an example in terms of my own experience founding MeWe. My purpose before setting up MeWe was ‘to help contribute to a more just society’. By itself this doesn’t feel that concrete, but out of it genuinely came the motivation for setting up MeWe, and out of that came all the various plans & tactical decisions that 8 years later has led to us being here now.
But it’s much messier than all that, because whilst this kind of retreat was part of the original vision for MeWe, it took us 8 years to deliver the first one, which was last year. On the other hand, within 2 years of setting up MeWe, we had started a venue hire business, which was never part of the vision. Initially it was a chance to make extra income, then slowly but surely it started to encroach on our core work with members. It’s all very complicated, but a big part of why this happened was losing sight of my original purpose, which meant I was making decisions that were search education portal distracting us from the original vision for MeWe, and distracting me from doing the things I really loved when I first started MeWe.
We eventually changed direction (about 18 months ago) and realigned to our original vision… This was lucky because Covid wiped out demand for the venue hire business. So, on big strategic choices, clarity of purpose leads to better decisions, achieving your goals more quickly & generally, makes you more content whilst running your business.
Holding onto the dream
But if it were that easy, everyone would do it. Finding & holding on to your purpose is ongoing work. I don’t think it ever really stops. So, over your time with us we want to build your capacity to focus on the long-term dream, whilst making day to day decisions in your business. To do this we need to understand what stops us from finding or staying connected to our dreams. Things like pressure caused by lack of money, or staffing issues or juggling work and family life, or unexpected events like Covid. But also, it’s about knowing what we mean by words like ‘dream’ and ‘purpose’, because these terms can easily get confused.
We will cover this in upcoming sessions, but I was thinking last night about what these words mean to me personally as a Founder. There is a larger care or concern that you have than your business itself, this underlies your purpose. If you focus too much on growing the business you lose sight of that tiny spark or impetus that made you start the business in the first place, and your business, even if successful financially, will never achieve what you hoped. It happens all the time, to small and large companies. Many leaders of social media companies now have businesses that don’t match their aspirations.
As entrepreneurs, it’s important to hold onto the spark. That moment when there was nothing but an idea or dream. The moment before you had a business to run and got caught up in the day to day grind. You are founders first, then you became managing directors. It’s important to get the balance right between these two responsibilities so you keep your purpose in sight.
Creating space to connect with purpose
Finally, it’s also worth adding that this retreat is also about recuperation, because it’s hard to connect to purpose when stressed, so we will leave space for you to relax and reflect.
It’s also about building community because as Managing Directors, CEO’s and Creative Directors, you share many of the same responsibilities. And as Founders many of you will have a common purpose, so can offer practical and moral support to each other, as you develop your projects over the next 12 months and beyond.
“The retreat made me reconnect with my purpose thereby contributing to confidence in myself as a leader.”
– MeWe Member
