For it to have any chance of surviving, it better! According to Webster, “soul” is defined, in part, as “the spiritual principle embodied in human beings, all rational and spiritual beings, or the universe” and “the moral and emotional nature of human beings spiritual or moral force.”
A couple of friends of mine who founded Genesis Strategy Group (www.genesisstrategygroup.com) originally got me thinking about the concept “soul” as it pertains to a company.
What is your company’s soul? Or, asked in another way, what is your company’s driving force?
Some companies call this their “mission statement”, or their “core values”. No matter what you call it, this is what defines your company for your internal (read “employees”) and external customers. By placing a conscious focus on this soul, every customer interaction and business decision is governed by the moral compass calibrated by the company’s soul. While this may sound esoteric, it is quite the opposite. This concept provides a roadmap to how the company responds to any situation it encounters. This reduces seemingly complicated scenarios, either with customers or employees, to very basic components with the course of action easily identified and implemented.
So, how do you define your company’s soul? Like human beings, an organization without a soul is, well… dead.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Companies have cultures that are established by their leaders and subsequently nourished and exemplified by their individual employees. A soul is unique to individuals. One of the disturbing trends in our society today is trying to characterize corporations as people. This is what has led to the Supreme Court decision Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission that allows unlimited corporate funding of political broadcasts. I think language is hugely important so we must draw a distinction between companies having "souls" vs. cultures. Thanks for an interesting blog.
Post a Comment