“BE QUIET, USE YOUR EARS, SHUT UP YOUR MOUTH, you then may find out that you learn something”. Obama´s advice at Bits19 to men in meetings to address issues of diversity. This is what he said at the White House when he realized that meetings were diverse with experts women in the room who were not be listened to.
I am impressed by the deep and clear sense of purpose I heard startup founders at bits19 expressing.
Founders start with the question: “What impact do I want to make, for whom/what do I want to make a difference?” and then try to find solutions. The organization they build is a “means for the purpose”. Their vision guides their work.
People like Elsa Bernadotte perfectly incorporate that spirit. She started by asking herself the question: “How can we stop food wastage?”. Her answer: by founding the startup Karma. https://new.karma.life/ to deliver on her mission.
It’s this clarity of purpose that gives founders their incredible energy, determination and courage to work day and night – with #passion and their ultimate goal in mind.
In many bigger corporations leaders have lost this focus. We stopped asking ourselves about the collective purpose of our work and may loose sight of the collective impact we are aiming at having.
Start to think like a founder. Ask yourself: What impact do I want to make?
I am so eager to hear and share Inspirational thoughts from Obama on leadership in the bold sense! The words I most heard in the first hours: courage, determination, impact, common purpose, values, energy and of course leaders for change. The underlying one was clearly passion.