On a classically beautiful New York summer night, more than 70 socially conscious business leaders gathered to kick-off the “Higher Purpose” event series that BrandFoundations is proud to be sponsoring in partnership with the New York City chapter of Conscious Capitalism (CCNYC).
Our host for the evening was ImpactHubNYC, a very cool shared workspace for social-impact entrepreneurs and professionals on Broadway in Chinatown. The crowd was fired-up and included professionals from a wide range of industries, including banking, advertising, technology, healthcare… the list goes on, as did the beer, wine and pizza.
The evening’s topic was “Purposeful Communications” and our presentation began with JP outlining the role that "higher purpose" plays in the Conscious Capitalism framework, and how stale old Mission-Vision-Values statements just don’t cut it in today’s new “Purpose-era.” He then walked the room through our more-contemporary Purpose-Way-Impact model, designed to be easier to remember, resonant with the millennial workforce and, ultimately, more meaningful and impactful.
For our second act, Steve facilitated a lively exercise in which we split the group into seven teams, gave each team an envelope containing the logo of a Fortune 500 company. Teams were asked them to work amongst themselves to craft a Purpose statement for that company but not to reveal the company to the other teams. We then went around the room with each group reading their awesome purpose statement while others tried to guess the company or origin. But the real fun came when we revealed the real-life – and extremely lame – mission statements of those companies, who shall remain nameless for now.
The exercise proved two things: 1) in the face of authentic purpose, yesterday’s me-too business jargon falls flat, and 2) the Purpose-Way-Impact model works – in just 15 minutes, these teams were better able to communicate why people should care about these companies.
We closed out the evening with more noshing and networking, and as you’d expect, old friendships were celebrated and new ones were launched before everyone spilled back out into that glorious city nightscape.
We’d like to thank all who attended for a night of spirited conversation and purposeful connections. All attendees received a special discount on our Purpose-Way-Impact DIY Workshop kit. A special note of thanks to our fellow board members at Conscious Capitalism NYC who were instrumental in bringing this event to life.
If you believe – as we do – that business can be a force for good, then join CCNYC and become part of this vibrant community. Also be sure to check out the rest of our upcoming events.