What Makes You Glow?

We had a great moment in a recent client session. The team was working to define their Purpose, Cause or Passion. When you get that right, it gives everyone in the company a clear statement of “why we exist." At its best, this becomes the emotional heart of the business. It’s not something most of us are trained to think about, let alone put into words, so leadership teams often struggle to get it right.

This team started out with very typical stuff, describing their collective passion with words like:

• Helping our clients solve [the particular problem we address]
• Helping our clients make better decisions
• Providing a long-term view that keeps our clients from making decisions they’ll regret

It wasn’t bad stuff, but there was no passion in it. The mood in the room was very flat until the company's founder and visionary, who so far had been quiet, spoke up.

Here's what he said:

“You know, that’s all great, but what really makes me happy is when a client invites me to one of their kids’ graduation, or to a wedding, or an anniversary party, or something like that.”

When he made that simple statement, the mood in the room changed instantly. The other members of the team sat up a little straighter in their chairs and started leaning forward. Their eyes widened. They smiled. They had stories to tell. They became engaged. It was as if someone turned up a dimmer switch that was attached to every member of the team. The best way we can describe it is that they all just started to glow.