Harnessing Your Business for Noble Causes

One of the arts of transforming leadership is connecting the immediate and the mundane to inspiring vision and purpose.

People are willing to do the hard work of daily life. What they hope is that it all has some higher meaning. That perhaps God is pleased. That they are earning a better life for their children. That they are fulfilling their purpose. And, in certain seasons of history, they hope that their labors are contributing in some way to victories in the battles of their day.

My man Churchill did this masterfully. He was leading a nation during a world war. His mind was constantly on battalions and global strategies and international agreements. Yet from time to time, he spoke to the man on the street. He told those working in pubs that they served a noble purpose. He encouraged the street sweepers. He told the nannies that they fashioned the future by fashioning the souls of children. He told every private and Army cook and truck driver that he or she served a great purpose for a great nation. We know from millions of testimonies that his words lit fires of inspiration in the common and the great—and helped turn the tide of war.

I have a friend who leads a firm that, frankly, doesn’t do very high-profile or glitzy work. They produce oil field equipment: tools, bolts, pipes, and the like. His factories could be Dickensian places, with un-inspired people going about their weary, mind-numbing tasks. Instead, my friend’s factories are abuzz with excitement and motivation.

This is because for years this man has led with care, with generosity, with investment in his people, and wisdom in fashioning deals. I can tell you that every person who works for him feels like they are creating a better world for their families and for their society.

Here’s one reason why. My friend ties the production of his company to noble causes. Right now—and this is really the purpose of me telling you all this—he has told his people that if they will help him hit certain levels of production, the firm will be able to give millions to relief in Ukraine. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that every cook in his cafeteria, every janitor on the factory floor, every truck driver and administrative assistant has been made to feel like they are rushing relief into the hands of Volodymyr Zelensky, the heroic president of Ukraine.

Everyone in the company gets daily updates about refugees and bombings and death tolls. Every day there are reports about the need for food, clothing, transportation, and relocation services. I’m telling you that whole company is mad at the Russians, cheering on Ukraine, and working to make sure that millions of dollars get where they are needed.

By the way, my friend has shown everyone who works for him exactly how increasing production will produce profits, how those profits will go entirely to Ukraine relief, and he has already put heads of charities in his videos asking them to affirm when the money is received and what they will do with it. In other words, my valiant friend is being fully accountable for what he is asking his team to do.

He doesn’t just have a business. He has a business in service of noble causes. You can feel it when you walk his factory floors.

Now, I want you to do the same with your company. I also urge you to jump into this cause of Ukraine relief with us. I recommend ConvoyofHope.org. They are doing tremendous relief work in the most desperate places of Ukraine. I trust them completely. Yet there are many other good relief agencies. Find them. Connect your company to them. Elevate what you do by harnessing to noble causes. This is an art of noble leadership.