Purpose has a number of meanings with respect to our service of others.
ON purpose, in this case, means doing something with very definite intent, not accidental, clearly planned and executed.
WITH purpose, in our thinking here means having very clear reasoning behind WHY we are doing what we are doing. This must be a perspective of what matters to the person we are serving. NOT about us, clearly about the other person and their objectives.
We ended the last discussion about purpose with examples from Apple and the Naval Academy. The organizational aspect of PURPOSE was pretty clear from those two examples. While there are really no right or wrong purpose statements there are those that embrace the goal more completely. In the world of Microchip, we have embraced the PURPOSE concept closely over the recent past and established our PURPOSE perspective. It is…..
“Empowering innovation which enhances the human experience by delivering smart, connected and secure technology solutions.”
Let’s dig into it a bit….
It is client-facing…. “empowering innovation (theirs)”. Big world aspirational…” enhancing the human experience”. Specific to the needs that the client has in technology solutions.
In every case, the value that a PURPOSE has is that it brings together all of the strategies, tactics, and actions with a clarity of focus on how we serve our clients, our team; all those that we serve. It gives us a way to ask the question about all things…” how does this serve the PURPOSE?
When tasked with creating clarity inactions, or strategies to create outcomes that matter, we can put the PURPOSE screen in place to make sure that what we are doing will serve it well.
All of this applies to understanding and supporting our own company’s PURPOSE… and it digs into how we can have conversations with those that we serve about the PURPOSE at the base of their own organization. And if you want to get really deep into UNDERSTANDING a client you will work this same discussion into the personal PURPOSE of those that you are interfacing with.
For an organization to effectively serve it must have its WHY. It must have a PURPOSE or it languishes in the quarterly report jungle of me too data. PURPOSE as great power IF you give it legs. It must be talked about, everywhere, all the time. It must be the key measure of darned near every topic. The question must be…” how does what we are planning benefit our PURPOSE?” It must have a “practical idealism” about it as a yardstick to measure the effectiveness of our processes and outcomes.
And that is just the “organizational” part of PURPOSE…. Wait until we get into the personal side of PURPOSE. A lot of introspection will be needed and examined as we get into our personal WHY.
OK, LET’S ROLL….on to our personal PURPOSE!
Mitch
Definitely…on PURPOSE!!!
For real? Yep. What we do and do well is where we are intentional, focused, and clear as to WHY we are doing it. It’s called having a PURPOSE.
There are a number of perspectives to PURPOSE. Whether individual, team, organization, or nation, a sense of PURPOSE is essential to commitment and success.
A shared sense of why we are doing what we are doing (PURPOSE) is the glue that binds people together in a common cause, often linking each individual’s goals with the organizations’ goals.
Properly formulated, a shared sense of common cause provides understanding of the need for coordinated collective effort—subordinating individual interest to the larger objective that can be achieved only by a collective effort.
When it is long range in nature, it is the basis for detailed planning for the allocation of resources.
When it is noble and inspiring, it gives dignity and respect to those participating in the effort, and when it promises a better future, it gives hope to all that seek it.
Powerful PURPOSE rises above the information, the data, the numbers, and all the metrics that we love to count.
For this conversation we are going to consider that PURPOSE has 3 distinct camps.
In each case PURPOSE is the WHY of existence. Why does your company exist, what need does it fill, What good does it do for humankind.
Why do YOU get up each day and tackle all of the daily challenges to existence and serving others. What is your PURPOSE?
Conversation with your client about what they understand about their own company’s, high service perspective of the good that they create in the world, must take place and get everyone on the same page. You will be surprised at the openness that clients will have when you CARE enough to really dig into this tough stuff with them.
We will dig into each of these areas over the next few weeks. For now let me give you two distinctly different PURPOSE thoughts from different ends of the world’s spectrum.
From Apple, their PURPOSE perspective… “To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.”
From the U.S. Navy…”The purpose of the United States Naval academy at Annapolis, MD, is to prepare midshipman to become professional officers in the naval service”.
OK, LET’S ROLL!
Onward to UNDERSTANDING “OUR” personal PURPOSE, this will be fun!
Mitch
To SERVE without reserve is the focus!
Technology and products are the lifeblood of what we do as companies. Amazing products and leading technologies are the mainstays of competitiveness in todays extremely rapidly changing world. They are the “table stakes” in the game today. AND they are not enough on their own to win the game!
Winning by serving the client to the maximum is the only way to achieve our objectives. This comes from delivering something unique to the client, from co-creating something unique WITH the client. AND the only uniqueness comes from how we SERVE our clients. Differentiation comes only in how we SERVE. Solutions that matter to the client only happen with how we SERVE. Products matter. Outcomes matter. Of course! How we SERVE is the what, where, when, why, of making a “difference” that the client acknowledges as mattering to THEM! This applies whether it is in person or if it happens virtually through all of our web-based actions.
To SERVE endlessly is a continuum, a circle of life that commits us to help the people that we have chosen to SERVE to do better for THEIR world and those that they SERVE. To SERVE without regard for the “return on investment” of your own time and effort is a pragmatic challenge that you must believe in. SERVE endlessly, without reserve, and know that your effort will benefit ALL of those involved in the FAITH we must have. Our history proves it is true. Our future counts on it. Our today demands it…if we are to succeed!
Your challenge is now to execute it; SERVE endlessly, because you CARE greatly and UNDERSTAND deeply!
Our next step is into PURPOSE. You, your company, your clients, and the people that you chose to SERVE.
We will dig into PURPOSE starting next week. It will be all about the definition, impact, and understanding of the power of PURPOSE.
OK, LET’S ROLL!
To the power of PURPOSE!
Mitch
To SERVE is to give freely of yourself!
To SERVE “really well” requires intent, focus, and perseverance.
To SERVE really well says that we will SERVE relentlessly, SERVE endlessly, SERVE without reserve!
Relentless is a great word. It means that we do it aggressively, with intent, with an eye to getting the most done and we don’t give up when obstacles are thrown at us. It means that we stay the course and never give up….working to help someone else achieve their objectives.
When we SERVE endlessly it means that we do not slow down or falter. Even if a project comes to its end, we continue to SERVE. Our quest is a long-term client engagement that likely never has an end in sight. While the objectives may shift, and new challenges come up, we continue in service to another person. This matters because the folks that we serve need to clearly understand that we are involved, as a choice, with no limit on time or effort.
To SERVE without reserve needs some clarity. It is the pure form of serving another person WITHOUT expecting anything in return. Nothing! Yep, that truly means you will be doing a LOT of work, helping another person achieve what THEY wish to achieve, AND in your heart and soul, you are doing so purely for the benefit of the other person. No expectations on returns in any way. Not in terms of business, profits…nothing. That’s a tough point to reach, yet it is the ONLY way to benefit everyone involved in the work. If in your service you start to set up expectations of getting something in return (bookings, billings, etc) for your effort you will start to alter the effectiveness of the service itself. That will be seen by all. It will be obvious, and it will negatively taint every action, and you will look like every other person calling on the client looking to meet their quota to get their commissions; undifferentiated, self-serving, and otherwise boring!
With a focus on the process of serving you leave the big block outcomes to themselves and trust that great things will happen because they WILL!
Let’s see you all plug that aspect into an “opportunity review” with all those that don’t do the work you do, it will drive them crazy! This aspect needs some time spent walking through its implications with a team to see how it all plays out. It DOES, it’s proven!
To SERVE requires our best in fundamentals of PLAN/DO/REVIEW! With a pure focus on the objectives of the client and diligence to stay true to the basics… relentlessly, endlessly, and WITHOUT reserve!
OK, LET’s ROLL!
To SERVE one another!
Mitch
IT’S TIME!!!
We have dug into the concept of CARING and why that makes a difference, UNDERSTANDING, and what that takes to really make it work, and lastly we will dig into PURPOSE and why we do what we do. But for now, let’s care enough to understand what it takes to truly SERVE someone else.
To SERVE…. What does it mean in our case in what we do with our clients? You can look up the word SERVE on the web and find a bunch of different perspectives on the meaning of the word itself. With respect to what our team does with our clients, here is my thinking.
To SERVE our clients, our team, our family, or whomever we choose to engage with is, for me, the same thing. And it is not too complex. Fundamentally it means ACTIVELY helping someone else achieve what THEY hope to achieve. A couple of key elements are involved here. ACTIVELY means we are directly, personally, individually involved in helping another PERSON get something done that it is important to THEM.
While corporations and companies are the frameworks behind much of what we work to accomplish, the reality is that the key to SERVING is that at its best it means involvement with a specific person. Often times as a part of a group of people, a team, a department, a formal or informal structure. We SERVE at the personal level, helping to accomplish individual goals that most times are in fact tied to corporate outcomes. All of this is ACTIVELY planned, done, and reviewed (PLAN/DO/REVIEW). Well-understood, carefully orchestrated actions that co-create the outcomes that we understand matter greatly to those we serve. That is where THEM comes into play.
The plans created, the process executed, and the outcomes aimed for, must all be built with the person you are serving as the center of the universe. Everything must focus on THEM! Timing, details, objectives, measurables, risks, rewards….everything must be built around the world of the person that you are choosing to actively help.
The text below is a bit of an extract from many of the forums on the web on Servant Leadership. I have substituted the “client engagement” words in many cases for the word leadership. You will see the great similarity in the two concepts. I can make the case that Servant Leadership is in fact a client-based set of values and actions and you can swap the terms pretty easily.
Servant client engagement encourages everyone to think outside the box and considers every perspective when tasked with moving the needle forward. The final decision is the byproduct of collective collaboration and the exchange of ideas. Power never rests with one person, but with everyone on the team contributing to the end result.
How can client engagement teams build a higher level of trust? By being crystal clear about everything. All communications need to be specific and disseminated to every single level of the organization, top to bottom. If you are not transparent and fail to serve a clear purpose, no one is going to care. Being transparent foments trust, which has a direct correlation to successful outcomes. Remember, trust is earned, not given. Have you earned your client’s trust?
It’s not about you. It never was and it never will be. It’s about the people who make it all work. Great client engagement teams help facilitate the success of others and make everyone feel valuable and that their contributions matter to the overall success of the effort.
Fostering service to others comes in many forms, including coaching, mentorship, and growth. Take the time to teach someone the ropes, to offer words of encouragement, and answer questions that others have for you. Great client engagement teams give back. They are able to put together a diverse group of people from all parts of the organizations that they serve and that they are a direct part of.
Servant client engagement professionals give more of themselves not because they have to, but because they want to. They are transparent, honest, and yes, even vulnerable. That sounds like it would be a weakness, but it actually can help build you up as a client engagement professional and let others see you as a human being, with values that matter to all.
OK, LET’S ROLL!
Time to SERVE, relentlessly!
Mitch
