Making the Case

SOURCE: http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/2008/05/memo_to_a_young_leader_what_ki.html
KEYWORDS: mission, principles, purpose, end, telos

In a blog article and a podcast for Harvard Business Review, Bill Taylor makes the case that companies in this day and age are volunteer organizations. Leaders must make the case for why working for them should be compelling. This does not have anything to do with money.

Bill Taylor states...

"When I go visit a company or talk with a leader for the first time, even though I am there to talk about strategy or marketing, one of the first questions that I ask: 'Why would really great people want to be part of what you are doing?' I am often struck of how inarticulate many leaders and CEOs are when I ask them that question."

Taylor then gives the example of Google and their "Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google". Netflix has the "8 Great Reasons to Work at Neflix". I also recently heard an interview with the founder of Intuit, the maker of Quicken and QuickBooks. He referenced Intuit's operating values which serve a similar function. Taylor suggests that a useful exercise would be to think about and to write down those compelling reasons to work for a company or even a project within a company.

No, the church is not a business, and the church should not be narcissistic--"What is in it for me?" Still if church leadership cannot articulate its mission and end, it's highly unlikely that the church will move to meet it.