Customer Reviews

Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies

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The author makes a solid case for the importance of purpose for the long term success of any enterprise. He presents many cases to prove his case. I am convinced. Unfortunately, some business leaders are not interested in the long term. Many business leaders are only focused on quarterly results and profits the current year. They may understand the importance of living a life with purpose and organizing a corporation around purpose but they are afraid what will happen to them if they devote their leadership to purpose. They beleive that the market will reject them and toss them out. These leaders believe they will be replaced by new leaders whose focus and purpose is to maximize immedidate profits and suck the guts out of the company. Corporate raiders are constantly seeking opportunities to take over a company to sell off its assets and drive the company into the ground. I hope that corporate leaders will read this book and heed the warnings of the author. Too many corporate leaders are not interested in developing Great Companies, instead they are merely interested in enriching themselves (and the stockholders. They are actually destroying the wealth of the corporations that they are hired to lead. They believe that is their Purpose.

Entrepreneurs who successfully create value for their customers, and more importantly---for society as a whole---are the ones who frequently achieve greatness. Their lives are filled with purpose, and their businesses reflect that sense of purpose in their basic core values. This is the measure of greatness, and it's the subject of this wonderful book written by Nikos Mourkogiannis.

Certainly, it's posssible to achieve financial success without idenitifying a recurring singleness of purpose; however, for any organization to achieve lasting greatness, it's nearly impossible to do so without having a clearly stated purpose; especially a purpose that really "serves a purpose"; namely, bringing true value to society as a whole.

For any company trying to identify its purpose in the business community, reading this wonderfully philosophical treasure will go a long way towards understanding what true "purpose" entails. For those who understand and embrace this concept, they've got a big head start on achieving a true measure of long-lasting success.

I frequently meet with entrepreneurs who think they have great ideas. Most are great people, with useful ideas, but few have a uniquely defined purpose. This book helps entrepreneurs and leaders think through the purpose of their effort. A real starting point for all great companies.