Andrea Putting: The Future of Business
It used to be enough. You would start a business with some great idea or product. Build it up, employ workers, they would come and do their job, and stay for years. With a good product and some clever marketing your business would find success.
Those years are gone and business has come of age.
The 21st century is more demanding. It’s no longer just about what you do, it is very much about how you do it and why. If the business does not align with their values or sense of what a business should and could be, employees are going to walk right out that door, regardless of what kind of deal you offer them. Right in to the hands of another employer or provider who they feel “fits” their sense of what “feels right.”
Consumers are voting with their wallets
People are demanding much more of the products they buy and the companies that produce them. A study conducted by research firm McCrindle on behalf of Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand, found eight in ten shoppers would be more likely to purchase a product that supports someone in need over one that did not have a charitable aspect.
We can see evidence in this in companies such as “Thank You” a company that directs all of its profits into charitable avenues. Here is a business model built around that deep-down desire we all have to make a difference. Seeing that there was a worldwide need for clean fresh water and that Australian’s were buying bottled water by the truck load. A perfect idea was born by putting the 2 together and the “Thank You” business was embraced by the consumer.
Incorporating a Social Mission
There is plenty of evidence that businesses with a social conscious and mission are more productive and profitable, however, if it is taken up with this agenda, it is not likely to be successful. Having a social mission needs to be at the very heart and soul of the business. It comes from this deep longing within each one of us to do something meaningful in our lives: to make a difference and leave a legacy.
A really successful progression into the incorporation of social mission comes when it includes the involvement of the “whole business,” not just the owner or CEO coming in and saying “this is what we are going to do.” This allows everyone to feel ownership of the mission and will be enthusiastic about implementing the changes that come.
What does the business stand for?
When people come together with intention, start to share their stories, passions and concerns, images emerge of what is the direction to follow. What is required is a process of deep listening, to each other, to the community and to what wants to emerge. Together you will discover a deeper Soul calling that will really set your life and business on fire. You will have created a vision that belongs to everyone.
As a result, you will do more than serve humanity, your business will grow leaders of compassion and build a community within the workplace that works together for that one inspiring vision. And consumers will love it.
The writer Albert Pike says “What we have done for ourselves dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
To be in business in the future it demands more
Join the social mission revolution and together we can make the difference that the world is groaning for, while leaving an enduring legacy that we and our children can be proud of.
What does your business stand for?
Andrea Putting
About the author
Andrea Putting is the Social Mission Revolutionist, Speaker and Author. Through her keynote speeches, book, programs and podcast, she guides businesses to connect with that deeper calling, developing a social mission, while in the process growing leaders of compassion and creating visions that belong to everyone. Connect with her on www.AndreaPutting.com
About The Author
