As we wrap up another really challenging year, you might take stock and ponder...
Why ARE we here anyways?
For more and more of us, our answer to this question is qualitatively shifting. Shifting from achievement to impact. I really like a key point Adam Bryant made in his recent article, The purpose of "purpose", that it’s increasingly advisable to think beyond B2B and B2C and dig deeper.
What is our B2S - our Business to Society?
What is our desired IMPACT for good?
Why ARE we here anyways?
Let me introduce you to three companies for whom high-impact purpose has been fundamental to their journeys of initiation, struggle, persistence, clarity, traction, and rapid growth. All three purpose-fueled companies have grown more than 5x in recent years. They know why they matter, whether their markets know it or not.
From its beginning, KTM Industries has been powered by the team's deep desire to simply replace polystyrene (EPS) in single use packaging. Because it was the “right thing to do,” KTM proudly and tirelessly promoted and improved its bio-based (even edible) cornstarch foam packaging (replacing EPS), long before sustainable packaging was cool.
The aim of creating a world where resources are managed to maximize economic and social benefit while minimizing environmental harm has driven Resource Recycling Systems’ steadily growing success for more than 30 years. Motivated by the desire to make a profound difference, RRS is now helping advance recycling and reuse in companies, communities and countries all over the planet.
Based in Houghton, Michigan (pop ~ 7,900), Great Lakes Sound and Vibration has built its success upon a very locally-focused and inspired sense of why – to leave a legacy of keeping small town families and friends together. GLSV’s pro-small-town passion is fierce and has help GLSV create a solid track record of building up and building on its people, their families and the communities where they live. GLSV is now a Houghton employer-of-choice, itself a key contributor to future growth.
How is your purpose inspiring your firms’ success? Your purpose - and the stories inspired by it - matters.