Читать книгу Selling With Noble Purpose - McLeod Lisa Earle, Lisa Earle McLeod - Страница 33

Mission and vision statements can be compelling. But more often than not, they're internally focused. In Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Great Companies, former Procter & Gamble (P&G) CMO Jim Stengel writes, “When you strip away the platitudes from those documents, what's left typically boils down to: ‘We want our current business model to make or keep us the leader of our current pack of competitors in current and immediately foreseeable market conditions.’”

In today's more socially aware times, mission and vision have expanded to include other stakeholders. Yet many don't amount to much more than: we want to serve our customers, our employees, and our communities, make as much money as possible, and be nice people while we're doing it.

This is the blah blah blah formula for mediocrity.

Even the largest organizations benefit from a succinct purpose. I was a sales manager for P&G early in my career. During my tenure, I saw our stock rise and split, delivering a 199% return. But by 2000, P&G was in trouble. The company lost $85 billion in market capitalization in only six months. Jim Stengel says, “P&G's core businesses were stagnating and its people were demoralized.”

Great brands weren't enough. P&G's people needed a purpose.

A.G. Lafley, then the CEO, asked Stengel to take on the role of global marketing officer to help transform the culture of the company to one wherein “the consumer is boss.”

Stengel says, “To hit these big targets, we needed an even bigger goal: identifying and activating a distinctive ideal, a purpose. Improving people's lives would be the explicit goal of every business in the P&G portfolio.”

Stengel writes, “A.G. Lafley and I—along with the rest of the senior management team—expected each business leader to articulate how each brand's individual identity furthered P&G's overarching mantra of improving people's lives. We also had to model the ideal ourselves. And we had to measure all our activities and people in terms of the ideals of our brands and the company as a whole. The success of that effort brought P&G's extraordinary growth from 2001 on.”

Notice, each one of the brands had to clarify its alignment toward the purpose. Identifying a larger purpose put P&G back on course. The 175‐year‐old consumer giant remains one of the most admired companies in the world. The company's story demonstrates that no matter how big you are or how long you've been in business, you can always reclaim your Noble Purpose.

Southwest Airlines is another commonly cited example of a company founded on a Noble Purpose. Since you've already seen how Noble Purpose is being used by several less‐high‐profile firms, I'll use Southwest here to illustrate the difference between mission, vision, and purpose. Roy Spence, who worked with Southwest on their purpose in the early days, explains in his book, It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For:

 Purpose is the difference you're trying to make.

 Mission is how you do it.

 Vision is how you see the world after you've done your purpose and mission.

He illustrates how it works at Southwest:

 Purpose: “Southwest Airlines is democratizing the skies.”

 Mission: “We democratize the skies by keeping our fares low and spirits high.”

 Vision: “I see a world in which everyone in America has the chance to go and see and do things they've never dreamed of—where everyone has the ability to fly.”

Their purpose, democratize the skies, trumps everything. It doesn't make Southwest immune from market pressure or potential hazards in the high-stakes, high‐risk game of air travel. What their purpose does do is point their team and act as a lens for decision‐making. If your mission and vision are vague, or you don't have them, don't worry. The right purpose is the most important thing for pointing your team.

Spence tells a famous story from several years ago. Consultants came into Southwest and said that if they started charging for bags, they would immediately add $350 million to the bottom line. “All the other airlines are doing it,” the consultants said. Southwest could make a fast profit if they did the same.

Senior leaders Dave Ridley, Gary Kelly, and others said, “No, that violates the purpose of our company,” and instructed the team to “go find the money.” Charging for bags wouldn't give more people the chance to fly; in fact, it would make the skies less accessible.

“But you'll make more money,” said the consultants and finance team. The answer was still, “No. It doesn't serve our purpose.” Ultimately, Southwest's refusal to stray from their purpose made them money instead of costing them money. Southwest launched an ad campaign called “Bags fly free.” Nine months later, the financial team reported the results. By running the ad campaign and sticking to their purpose, Southwest drove $1 billion in new revenue, taking additional share from their competitors.

Your NSP keeps you focused on what matters: the customer.