If You Are
Not Giving Back, You're Not Moving Forward
In
the race to scale our businesses, we can lose track of purpose. Yet employees
today seek meaning in work--or they'll work elsewhere. What are you doing to
provide it?
Executive director, Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation
and Tech Entrepreneurship, Illinois Institute of Technology
In the
frenzied startup world where growth is the only real gospel, we're so
taken with the idea of sheer size and the need to get "bigger
quicker" that we sometimes lose sight of the fact that not everything that
matters in life is about scale. The biggest crowd, the largest parade, the
loudest voice, the most sales, etc. is only a small part of the story.
Sometimes,
it's just as important to take the time to do something small and special, just
because it's the right thing to do and needs to be done. No act of kindness or
generosity --however small or modest-- is ever wasted. And it seems like
we need a boatload of simple acts of kindness and charity these days just to
try to help keep things in our country from running further aground.
These
are harsh and difficult times. In my entire lifetime, I have never witnessed
such disheartening and indiscriminate displays of political power and personal
pettiness by our representatives on both sides of the aisle in
Washington-- although today it feels more like a sewer. And I'm
afraid that sorry show shows no sign of abating any time soon.
But
it's in these very kinds of hard times, when you can take a few moments to give
someone else a helping hand (with no expectation of reward or recognition) that
you somewhat restore your belief, hope and faith that things can get better.
And you realize that you always get a lot more out of giving
than you do from all the getting that occupies so much of the time and effort
in our daily lives. Sometimes, in moments like these, the smallest things
can take up the most room in your heart for a fleeting moment or two and remind
you of the good that exists in most people and in most parts of the country.
And for
those of you who might say that you don't have time for organized or even
random acts of charity, or that you can't afford to take your eye off the ball
even for a moment, I'd say that it's really important to whatever you're trying
to accomplish that you find a little time to make a difference in a life other
than your own. I like to remind young entrepreneurs that there's always more
work, but you only have one family. Seeking the same equilibrium is just as
essential in your business as well. If you don't get the balance correct
between "making a living" and "making a life" right from
the start, I can guarantee you that you won't like what you ultimately grow
into. Your business will suffer just as much as your personal life.
More to
the point, establishing a company culture that cherishes purpose as much as
profit has never been more essential or more critical to the success of new
businesses than it is today. That culture starts from the CEO and is built
through the day-to-day actions of the people in the business and from continued
demonstrations of solid commitments to serious principles. This kind of culture
is not built through spiffy slogans or endless conversations.
Show
me, don't tell me. Or else I'll find a better place to be. The best and most
talented employees today don't work for a company. They work for a reason
and a purpose. And if your business can't demonstrate a purpose backed up
by behaviors aligned with what they're looking for, they'll
leave-- typically in less than a year. This isn't a situation where you
eventually get around to doing it. Get started now before they get going out
the door.
Today,
because our time is so scarce and the demands on it are so great, we all kid
ourselves into believing that there will be all the time we need later in life
to do those good deeds and give back in meaningful ways. Then one day, in
the not too distant future, we wake up to find that the time and many of the
most important opportunities have passed us by. That's why there's no better
time than the present to take up the task and get started.
It's
not that hard to help and to make a difference. And just remember when you
wonder if even the simplest gesture matters that it's scale that doesn't
matter; what matters is sincerity, real interest and simply stepping up.
The
difference that your efforts can make in even a single life are incalculable
and the impact can be immediate and life-changing. Start today.