When so many people talk about purpose-driven businesses, it’s fair to wonder about the difference between purpose, mission and vision. For a start, purpose has replaced mission statement so we can ignore that, but it’s still important to have both a vision and a purpose.  

I take a very simple approach: the vision is our business goal. In our case, we want to provide the best leadership development in the world. It’s a lofty goal, and there’s a huge amount of work we have to do on the business to achieve that, but it inspires us to keep building and developing. Literally, taking care of the business. 

There always has to be a financial aspect to a vision. Everybody needs to sustain themselves, their family, and their lifestyle. But if financial security is the only reason, work feels empty. 

Money is just the way we measure our business’ success, not the value of our impact. If you’re doing it properly and for the right reasons, the most reliable indicator is making money because it means people like what you do, and it's creating value for them. For me, of course I want to get to the top of the business world, but I want to get there with a product that people enjoy and makes a lasting difference.  

So the purpose has to be inspiring too, but for different reasons. It’s the satisfaction and the buzz we get from what we’re doing every day. We’ve had a couple of purpose statements over the years. The current one is ‘more human workplaces’, which replaced ‘business leaders’ lives changed for good’. You’ll notice that both come from the same place – more human workplaces are created by better managers. 

It’s important to be authentic when you’re crafting your vision and your purpose. What kind of difference do you want to make?

Our vision is to be a world leading development program, and our purpose is to create more human workplaces. Note how they’re tied together - if you’re succeeding in your purpose and vision, then you’ll be earning revenue to do something you enjoy and be making a real difference to your customers or your network. 

We are in the wonderful position of getting purpose-sustaining feedback from our clients all the time. Here are some breakthroughs people reported from their experience with our Active Manager Program: 

 Coming to terms that I've been in reactive mode all my life, which at times has been destructive to me and those around me. Learning to take a minute, pause and consider the next move has changed my approach to life. - Marie

My breakthrough moment was really around how better to conduct myself around my staff and be more approachable, also the art of delegation. I really underestimated how much delegation can actually assist in the growth of others by giving them extra responsibilities which some people are looking for and thrive on. Your team is the most powerful asset you can have so you need to invest in what will make the strive to be a better them.  - Owen

Thank you for your assistance through your program which is helping me be a better me. - Mike 

Now you may or may not be impressed by those comments, but I can tell you that it really jazzes us. That’s why we do this.