1. Masterpieces from creators - Are they engaged and happy ? 2. Case Study from Jack Welch 3. How do you discover a compelling core purpose 4. Will you be the CMO of your organisation 5. Connect with us

1. BUSINESS INNOVATION
AND MASTERY IN
SINGAPORE
IS IT A LEADERSHIP ISSUE?

2. Would all these feats, all examples of mastery and innovation, have been
possible if their creators were disengaged and unhappy with their work?
#1
A bored Michaelangelo
creating the heart-wrenching
Pieta, one of the greatest
sculptures in the world?
#2
Disengaged Leonardo Da
Vinci painting the
enigmatic Mona Lisa?
#3
Brunelleschi who only cared
about getting a pay cheque at the
end of the month erecting the
eternal duomo in Florence?
G R O W T H C A T A L Y S T | 2 0 1 9

3. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric and legendary people developer said in his latest book The Real Life MBA
that bosses must be Chief Meaning Officers or CMOs. CMOs share how every ones’ work is aligned to a higher purpose
– a benefit to the client or to society, and how each one’s performance is driving the organisation towards that
purpose.
How often do leaders understand and talk about their organisations’ or business’ purpose? One of the issues that often
come out during strategic planning sessions I hold is the question of how real is your Core Purpose to you and your
team? Is it just a phrase on the wall, or is it alive, and aligning people’s effort towards a common good?
As Henry D Thoreau said in a letter to his friend, "It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you
industrious about?"
SO HOW DO WE CREATE HAPPY WORKERS?
HOW DO WE SPUR ENGAGEMENT?
DO WE CREATE HAPPY WORKERS BY GIVING
THEM A HIGH PAY AND LOTS OF PERKS?
G R O W T H C A T A L Y S T | 2 0 1 9
G R O W T H C A T A L Y S T | 2 0 1 9

4. Singapore workers work one of the longest hours in the world.
What are they industrious about? You as the leader, what do you want to
them to be industrious about? Chasing numbers? Numbers are important to
every business, but the sad fact remains that most employees don’t care
about our goals – Harvard Business Review features an article called The
Power of Happiness that says that in a survey in the US, only 60% of
employees are not motivated to drive their employers’ goals. They care about
their goals, their values, and that which creates meaning for them.
As the business leader, you have to be the ‘Chief Meaning Officer’ and answer
that question. Finding a company’s Core Purpose is not discussing something
fluffy but to find the means to unite and engage your employees for value
creation. According to a paper by the Stanford Graduate School of Business
titled The Business Case for Happiness, it says that a higher purpose beyond
profit and a visible impact your company is making for others, be it society or
client, leads to greater happiness among employees because people want to
know that what they do matter beyond getting their pay cheque on time.
When they find that, they are intrinsically driven to create value.
WHAT ARE YOU
INDUSTRIOUS
ABOUT?
G R O W T H C A T A L Y S T | 2 0 1 9

5. SO HOW DO YOU DISCOVER A COMPELLING
CORE PURPOSE?
According to outstanding business guru and founder of Gazelles International, Verne Harnish, in his book Scaling
Up, the book that won seven international awards for business books in 2015, the Core Purpose should not be a
mouthful; how many of us had experienced working for a company whose mission or purpose is too long to
remember, thus rendering it ineffective? And Harnish leads the discussion with one of the most powerful, most
honestly brutal question:
Points of Discussion
G R O W T H C A T A L Y S T | 2 0 1 9
What will your customers say if you are no longer around? Will you be missed, or will your customer go to your
nearest competitor as though nothing really changed?
This question unveils your raison d'etre, the real thing you are selling that others cannot sell. Use it to find that
unique difference that only you can make.

6. One of my business coaching clients in the wind energy business told me
that after I asked him that question, he could not sleep because he did
not have the answer. He knows that unlocking that answer would unite
and engage his team to greater heights.
Energy is a highly commoditized market, so he needed his team to find
that extra unique edge against competitors. At that time, he struggled
because when he realized that he did not know the answer, his
employees were as lost as he was. This was despite the fact that they were
the largest green energy company in their country.
I told him that discovering this is powerful because you discover what
your customer really needs that money could not buy; that gives you a
special calling in the industry.
Link this powerful benefit to your employees’ work and they too will see
the meaning of what they do. In other words, don’t just talk about it; set
goals and KPIs that capture elements of fulfilling your Core Purpose and
make it part of everyone’s work.
Likewise, one of my other clients is the APAC director of an advertising
business in twenty eight countries. She felt something was not settled in
the business, causing her great uneasiness, and that affected her focus.
She had difficulty challenging employees to go that extra mile in a highly
competitive business. When we sat down and talked through the issues,
we discovered that despite their presence around the world and having
several trophy clients, they had no Core Purpose. Their work, from leaders
to employees, was not aligned to a strong, compelling benefit that is
beyond money.
G R O W T H C A T A L Y S T | 2 0 1 9

7. Another powerful side-effect of being a purposeful organisation is the affiliation effect. People like to be associated with an
organisation with a good repute.
In the past, good repute was derived from the organisation’s size and financial prowess. But more and more it is derived
from the good an organisation brings to society.
The clearer employees see the benefit their work, and by affiliation, the company’s work do to benefit others, the higher
their engagement.
When employees find meaning in their work, it will drive them towards higher productivity, mastery and innovation.
Otherwise, all this talk about mastery and innovation will fail.
SO, LET’S END WITH THIS QUESTION –
WILL YOU BE THE ‘CMO’ OF YOUR
ORGANISATION?
G R O W T H C A T A L Y S T | 2 0 1 9

8. grow@growthcatalyst.com.sg
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