Back in the 1950s, after US presidential elections when pollsters asked citizens who didn’t vote for the winning candidate what their reaction was, the responses tended to be along the lines of “He’s our president, I wish him well”.
Today, this cannot be said of most citizens of either the US or the UK.
So tribal have we become that we wish more for the success of our tribe, and the failure of other tribes, than for the success of our overall community.
As it is in politics, so is it in society and in business. The subjugation of what our community needs to sit below what our tribe wants.
And this for me is the importance of mission, of purpose, of values in business today. More important now because of the tribalism that is increasingly taking root in our society.
Because the deeper our belief in our mission, the stronger the sense of purpose, the more our behaviours align with a strong set of ethical values – which include a lived equal respect for all – then the more our diversities become a source of strength rather than of division.
How's 2023 started for you? Is strategy consistently being executed? Are you not having to firefight or get involved in more deals than you should? We're looking for a group of 5 CEOs (10 to 100 employees) to join us on this workshop to talk through how to make your strategy, purpose and values happen. Join us.