You, the Magician

 As discussed in my previous entries, most companies fulfill a main purpose, be it innovation or discovery (magicians), excellence (sovereigns), altruism (lovers) or results (warriors).  Obviously, most companies focus on one or two of these traits, but may also have some orientation or specific activity or involvement in the others.

So, say you think you are a magician, turned on by innovation, discovery and freedom to create.  You may be working for a freedom champion or in a department in charge of product development, innovation or new service development. Even if you aren't in any of these roles, you may be the idea dynamo in your team, regardless of your position.

I personally feel that marketing, promotion and advertising agencies are probably the best example of magicians at work.  Here, executives and creatives are under great pressure to develop that new idea that well help their client achieve business purposes whatever they are.  I personally feel great respect for designers and creators who have the power to awe us with their work.  If you don't agree with me, check out a great example of creativity. I'm sure you've seen equally cool ads before.

 

Magicians, Sovereigns, Lovers and Warriors

In my opinion, purpose, more than faith, moves mountains. Nikos Mourkogiannis, a renown strategic consultant, states that every company has been created with a main purpose in mind and is populated by 4 types of people:  Magicians, Sovereigns, Lovers and Warriors.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google, the Magicians, set their eyes on an ever evolving free-access system that would put vast amounts of information on people's hands. Their emphasis has been on a free-spirit of innovation and discovery open to all.

Giorgio Armani, the Sovereign, is not out to save the world or clothe every man, woman and child on the planet for free, but a selected few who can afford his expensive creations. He strives for excellence, seeking to be admired, adored and followed.

Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS shoes (www.toms.com), is the ultimate Lover who set out to give one pair of shoes to a shoeless child in the developing world for every pair sold at his store.  The One-for-One movement he leads is fueled by the purpose of altruism and desire to help others and improve their lives. 


Bill Gates is a Warrior who did not start Microsoft to develop software used by a handful of people; instead, he envisioned putting it in every PC on the face of the earth, earning him monopoly lawsuits in Europe. Results drive at its best.

Are you a magician, a lover, a sovereign or a warrior and, most importantly, is your personal purpose in line with that of your employer?

The Purpose of a Business

All companies and organizations, for or non-profit, public or private, are created for a purpose; be it to improve people's lives, fulfill a need, dominate a segment, improve on existing products, help humanity, etc.

In the case of businesses, their founders, owners or leaders develop products or services with a business purpose in mind, an ultimate goal and reason for being usually found in their mission statement.  Business strategies are ideally anchored on this ultimate purpose. Employees alike join these companies, attracted to the company's business purposes in addition to their personal and professional goals.

Unless you live under a rock, you must have heard about Toyota's problems and Mr. Toyoda admitting that the company, the epitome of efficiency,  had focused too much on expansion and ended up losing its direction. Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, similarly stated that the coffee chain had grown too big and, therefore, also deviated from its original mission.  It may sound like an excuse, but, there is certainly a lot of truth in their statements. No company can succeed if their strategy is not guided by their main business purpose.

Nikos Mourkogiannis, an strategic consultant to the likes of Johnson & Johnson, Alcatel and Braun and an authority on strategic leadership, speaks of 4 types of business purposes that drive most companies.

Discovery:  Here companies focus on idea creation, innovation, discovery, newness and setting new directions e.g. IBM, Apple, Google.

Excellence:  These are enterprise that strive for excellence and uniqueness, seeking to be at the top and obtain adoration and following e.g. The Economist, BMW.

Altruism:  Here the emphasis is on service, altruism, improving quality of  life and relationships e.g. Pfizer, The Body Shop, Federal Express.

Results:  Here companies fight to be heroes, obtain results, and totally dominate their segment e.g. Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Ford.


Think for a minute:  Who do you work for and what purpose drives your organization?
Another key question here:  Are YOUR personal values in line with those of your organization?

Motivation 3.0

I sometimes forget that the subject of this blog is career crisis and may occasionally drift a bit.  In my last 2 posts,  I touched on how the Costa Rican economy is becoming much more competitive and the issue of employee motivation and retention.  One of the underlying threads here is the importance of what companies do to motivate staff, increase employee satisfaction and, as a result, boost productivity and business results.


Your questioning and doubting your place in your current company may be rooted in you being the object of the wrong kind of motivation.  In light of the recent economy downturn and changes the world is going through, Daniel Pink describes a new theory of motivation 3.0 taking root among renown multinationals.  It  includes 3 key ingredients:  Autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Autonomy:   Employees should be encouraged and challenged to work flexibly, engage in individual projects of their liking and contribute beyond their call of duty or what is written in their job description.  This may imply changes in work schedules, sitting arrangements and involvement in task forces or committees all with the purposes of stimulating participation.


Mastery:  Companies that correctly spot, nurture and nourish their staff strengths motivate them to create bigger and better things.  The phrase "train like crazy" is thrown around very often with training programs, rarely hitting the spot and delivered in a cookie cutter, one size fits all manner.  What best motivator than a company caring about the employees' personal and professional growth?

Purpose:  The company does not exist in a vacuum.  Churning out widgets or generating gross profits alone may not be motivating or purposeful enough in today's work environment.  The community now has plenty of choices and communication weapons to favor companies that serve a higher and common  purpose, be it improving and saving lives, helping the environment or any good cause you can think of.

Never before had companies and their staff been under such pressure and faced with such opportunity to consider the importance of the human capital in business.