Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies
The single factor influencing the best strategic decisions is a solid understanding of an organization’s purpose.
What really drives corporate decision making? In his ground-breaking book, "Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies," world-renowned thought leader Nikos Mourkogiannis finds that the single factor influencing the best strategic decisions is a solid understanding of an organization’s Purpose.
Conventional wisdom suggests that companies exist primarily to return investment to shareholders. But, the author contends, running a company with only that end in mind is a sure-fire way to kill it.
Mourkogiannis turns the idea of leadership on its head—and shows that the choice between values and success is no choice at all. Rather than organization or structure, he argues that ideas are what cause companies to go from good to great. Drawing on examples from across multiple industries, Mourkogiannis demonstrates how a strong Purpose is the essential first step towards lasting success.
The author defines “Purpose” as the set of values that defines an organization and motivates its employees. The Purpose of the organization, he explains, is the context that determines the right decision to make at any particular time. And just as important is what Purpose is not, Mourkogiannis argues. A company’s Vision, Mission, or Brand cannot adequately express the “call to action” that a Purpose portends.
CEOs and other industry leaders will learn the four moral traditions on which an organization’s successful Purpose must be based: Discovery, Excellence, Altruism, or Heroism. Mourkogiannis shows how employee tasks and relationship building are guided—consciously or not—by these principles: Focus on one of them and fulfill it well, and money and success will follow. Conversely, if an organization’s Purpose is merely expedience—e.g., making quick profits or solving problems with minimal effort and cost—Mourkogiannis maintains that employees will often act only to gain a short-term advantage, and the company will lose in the long term.
The author shows that Purpose not only provides the raw materials from which competitive advantage is created, but also shapes the patterns of behavior that enable these raw materials to fit together. Mourkogiannis reveals how Purpose is the CEO’s primary job, as well as a consistent guide for making the countless small decisions that add up to a strategic position. "Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies" provides a lens through which a company’s strengths can be viewed, and concise guidance as to how best these strengths can be leveraged.
Here’s the first book that can help CEOs—and aspiring CEOs—see their path from the perspective of destiny.
About the Author
Nikos Mourkogiannis is the senior partner at Panthea, a global consulting firm advising chairmen and CEOs on leadership strategy. He is also senior advisor on leadership to Booz Allen Hamilton. He taught international negotiation at Harvard University and helped create the Harvard Law School Center on Negotiations.
Buy The Book
Information on how to order copies of "Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies" online can be found on www.purposethebook.com.
book summary posted September 26, 2006
