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PURPOSECAPITALCLEVELAND.ORGMISSION & TOOL KIT

©2014 THE PURPOSE CAPITAL CLEVELAND. All rights reserved.

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First, some background on two

challenges that led to the creation

of PCC...

INTRODUCTION

P allup research shows that on average 55%

of our workforce is unengaged, meaning

they are basically doing just enough to get by.

Another 15% are actively disengaged, meaning

they will actually do harm to their employer if

given the opportunity. That leaves only 30% that

are fully engaged, bringing everything they have

to the to the workplace.

At best, disengaged workers look

outside of work to find ways to apply

themselves. At worst, they lead

uninspired lives and reflect low

engagement in all aspects of their

existence. This is a huge missed

opportunity for our lives, organizations

and and communities

as we spend

most of our

time at

work.

G

CHALLENGE #1: ENGAGEMENT AT WORK CRISIS

Johnny’s comedy writer, Pat McCormick, was very successful. He was Harvard educated and also wrote for people like Lucille Ball, Bette Midler and Steve Martin. My guess is that Pat never intended to affect a negative branding campaign that would last decades! Likely he was a good guy that would rather employ self-effacing humor about his own city rather than throw someone else’s under the bus. Admittedly, there have been some notable issues in the past that warranted ridicule, but that’s not our reality today, time to move forward. The good news is, it’s just a branding issue, meaning the negative branding ideas don’t match reality and can be overcome as soon as we change our attitude!

Did you know that

only 34 percent of those who live in Cleveland

would recommend Cleveland as a place to visit?

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PCC: MISSION & TOOL KIT 2

CHALLENGE #2: CLEVELAND’S HISTORICALLY LOW SELF-ESTEEM

s a transplant who has lived in Cleveland for 15 years, I believe the discrepancy between fact and

fiction - the difference between what’s true about Cleveland and what a lot of people say about

Cleveland - is remarkable. After growing up near the beaches of Cape Cod, going to school in Florida and

starting my career in the mountains of Colorado, I choose to live and Cleveland and it’s the best decision I

ever made. I absolutely love this city because of its people and vast assets. When I hear people “dis”

Cleveland, especially people who grew up here, I scratch my head.

AAfter some research, I’ve started to call this negative attitude about our city “The Tonight Show Curse”

because most of the “burning river / mistake by the lake” nonsense started several decades ago when

Johnny Carson made it a regular part of his Tonight Show monolog, to bust on Cleveland. It turns out that

he did this because his lead comedy writer was from Cleveland and liked to make fun of his hometown.

A

The global Conscious Capitalism movement

(www.consciouscapitalism.org) provides a ton of high engagement

bright spots. Raj Sisodia, author of Firms of Endearment, Co-Author

of Conscious Capitalism, and Founder of the Conscious Business

Institute, provides a roadmap to full engagement at work.

Raj Raj explains that conscious businesses spend money where it makes

a positive difference. They don't waste money on unnecessary

advertising, gimmicky promotions, and the revolving door of high

employee and supplier turnover. They empower people and engage

their best contribution in service of a higher sense of purpose. They

make a net positive impact on the world.

Such busineSuch businesses take great care to hire people whose personal

passions are aligned with a well-defined corporate purpose.

BRIGHT SPOTS: HIGH ENGAGEMENT


SOLUTIONS: BRIGHT SPOTS -FOCUS ON POSSIBILITIES, NOT PROBLEMS

As a former student of David Cooperider, Fairmount Santrol Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the

Weatherhead School of Management and father of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), I subscribe to a key principle of

AI and choose to focus on “possibilities, not problems.” I like to look for bright spots and “things gone right.”

Instead of fixating on problems like low engagement or false negative perceptions created by The Tonight

Show curse, I choose to look for what’s going well and seek to replicate and build on that.

I also don’t liI also don’t live in the clouds. I see the problems; I just choose to see through them once I accept the current

state of things, especially the facts. So let’s look through low engagement at work and low self-esteem in

our city to what’s true, working and possible. Let’s start with engagement at work.

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At a time when overall employee engagement levels are shockingly low, conscious businesses have

employees who are loyal, passionate, energetic, and creative. For them, their work is not just a job or a

career, it is a calling.

Not only does this approach to business solve

low engagement, it causes organizations and people to flourish.

Conscious capitalism is a business philosophy that has four key characteristics. This is a roadmap to creating

a highly engaged organization for leaders.

9 to 1

Raj’s research shows that these unique companies out-perform their competition

Business can and should be done with a higher

purpose in mind, not just with a view to maximizing

profits. A compelling sense of purpose creates an

extraordinary degree of engagement for all

stakeholders and releases tremendous organizational

energy. Conscious businesses move beyond the

tytyranny of or, profits or purpose, to profits

AND purpose.

HIGHER PURPOSE1


The business is explicitly managed for the simultaneous benefit of all of its stakeholders, represented by

the acronym SPICE:

A conscious business aligns the interests of all stakeholders, so that what is good for one is good for all.

Society is listed first for an important reason: businesses must ensure that they are on the “right” side of

society, that they have a positive net impact on the world.

Society Partners Investors Customers Employees

FULL STAKEHOLDER MODEL2

Such businesses have conscious leaders, driven primarily by service to the firm's purpose rather than by

power or money. They lead by mentoring, motivating, developing, and inspiring people, not through

command-and-control or the use of “carrot and stick” incentives.

CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP3

Such businesses have unique cultural characteristics,

captured in the acronym TACTILE: Trust, Authenticity,

Caring, Transparency, Integrity, Learning, and

Empowerment. The word tactile also suggests that the

cultures of these companies are very tangible to their

stakeholders as well as to outside observers; you can feel

the difthe difference when you walk into a conscious business versus

one that is purely driven by a profit motive and just for the benefit

of shareholders.

UNIQUE POSITIVE CULTURE4

It’s a joke at Fathom that you don’t want to get me

started on my Cleveland rant. It’s just too easy for me

to go on and on about Cleveland’s people and assets.

My love affair with Cleveland stems from Cleveland’s

rich legacy of entrepreneurship and generosity that is

alive and well today.

In the early 20th In the early 20th century, Cleveland was one of the

wealthiest and most flourishing cities in the country

as a result of entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller

who built their companies here and invested much in

our city. We are all the benefactors of things like the

“emerald necklace” metro park system, a thriving

theater district second only to New York’s Broadway,

an amazing housing an amazing housing stock and low cost of living, the

Great Lakes, otherwise known as the largest body of

fresh water in the world in our back yard… ok, don’t

get me started!

Cleveland’s best asset is its people. One group that is

especially exciting is our up-and-coming leaders, the

so-called Millennial generation. Cleveland is home to

60 (yes… six zero) young professional organizations.

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IN SUMMARY...

FFrom Raj’s book Conscious

Capitalism, conscious

businesses have trusting,

authentic, innovative, and

caring cultures that make

working with them a source

of both personal growth

and pand professional fulfillment.

They endeavor to create

financial, intellectual, social,

cultural, emotional,

spiritual, physical, and

ecological wealth for all

their stakeholders.


BRIGHT SPOTS:CLEVELAND TRUTH & ASSETS

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This is evidence of an incredible amount of energy and young professionals who want an impactful career,

rapid personal growth, big challenges, connected relationships at work and home, and who are willing to

serve beyond their own self-interest.

I heaI heard an interesting comparison recently. Our young professionals today are similar to the

hippies of the 1960s in their desire the change the world, with one big difference: The

Millennials, unlike the hippies, are working to change the world from inside the system!

Millennials believe the best form of rebellion is to dress formally, respect their elders,

excel at work and in community, and to love their country. They are educated civic leaders and

professionals willing to take on challenges from within our communities and organizations. The hippies

chose remote Woodstock to make their stand; the Millennials choose to work from inside the mainstream …

prpretty smart. I’m not a big gambler, but I’m “all in” on this group’s odds of changing the world.

Our young professionals today are similar to the hippies

of the 1960s in their desire the change the world“ “

By 2020, Millenials will be 50% of the American workforce (BLS). While all generations seek purpose, Millenials name it as the top factor in defining career success (Career Advisory Board).

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A FINAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE: THE PURPOSE ECONOMY

I met Aaron Hurst, CEO of and

author of The Purpose Economy this past spring

of 2014. In preparation for our meeting, I read

some of his work about the transition we are

experiencing as we move from the Information

Economy into what he calls the 4th Economy, or

the Purpose Economy (Agrarian #1, Industrial

#2, In#2, Information #3). In this emerging economy,

just like in previous times of transition,

everything will be impacted. Organizations must

pay attention or struggle, or possibly perish, like

others that did not embrace the changes driven

by information technology over the last 60

years.

The “technology” of this new economy is the

integration of meaningful connection with

others, personal growth and greater purpose

(three key components of purpose rich

environments) across all aspects of our life,

especially our work. No longer will these qualities

be relegated to Sunday or retirement in the

Purpose Purpose Economy. Organizations that embrace

and encourage “purpose workers” to be fully

integrated will capture the advantages outlined

by Raj Sisodia in the decades to come. Purpose

workers are to the Purpose Economy as

Knowledge Workers are to the Information Age.

THE WORKFORCE IS CHANGING

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

THE MISSION OF PURPOSE CAPITAL CLEVELAND

By connecting the dots of 1) how conscious businesses are igniting employee

engagement, 2) the rapid changes coming with the emerging Purpose Economy, and

3) Cleveland’s spirit of entrepreneurship, contribution and momentum, a group of

co-creators launched Purpose Capital in Cleveland.

The Mission of PurposeCapitalCleveland.org

Connect, Grow, Serve: Flourish


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PURPOSECAPITALCLEVELAND.ORG

PurposeCapitalCleveland.org provides access to practical tools and bright spot stories that help Greater

Clevelanders expand and integrate purpose in their lives, organizations and communities. More purpose

increases engagement and attraction of top talent, the catalysts that will cause our people, organizations

and region to flourish as a LEADER in the Purpose Economy… as Silicon Valley is to The Information Age,

Cleveland is to the Purpose Economy!

AAdditionally, PCC is helping Cleveland blast through its low self esteem and emerge as a role model to

other cities. The PCC co-creators are working with Aaron Hurst to help other cities launch “cities of

purpose” efforts modeled after what we have created in Cleveland. PCC is helping greater Clevelanders

and other cities “surf the Purpose Economy wave well!”

PCC tools help you

Bring your current community of stakeholders into the conversation about changes coming with the Purpose Economy

Expand your community of peers, employees, customers and citizens who are committed to thriving in light of the changes

AAccelerate learning, access to resources and action that will help you and your stakeholders flourish in the Purpose Economy

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MISSION & TOOL KIT

To find out more, check out www.PurposeCapitalCleveland.org

@PurposeCapCLE


PCC TOOL KIT

Purpose Capital Jeffersonian Dinners

The oldest and most effective way to engage and create deeper connections with others is through dialog at

the dinner table. Host or attend a Purpose Capital Jeffersonian Dinner and share stories of purpose and high

engagement, envision the future of our city and get into action. Hosts are provided a dinner manual to

ensure the dinner is impactful and leads to action ( for details on how to host or attend a

dinner).

Bright Spot Bright Spot Stories

On the PCC website, we highlight bright spot stories about people, organizations and communities that are

building purpose rich environments and creating deeper engagement. These role models also dilute the

misperceptions of our city with positive stories highlighting Purpose Capital leaders. We will also publish the

“Purpose Capital 99” in 2015. This is the honor roll of purpose-rich people and organizations we can all learn

from.

Learning Events

A A few times a year, we will produce rich learning events to bring people together to share, learn and inspire

action. Questions like “what is the role and opportunity for non-profits in these changing times,” “how do

you actually create a purpose-rich culture that will result in deeper engagement in my organization,” and

“how do I expand purpose in my work if my company isn’t on board” will be addressed at various events and

workshops. The site will also include a reading list of articles and books that delve deep into the topic.

Partnerships

TThe website will provide links to resources like Imperative.com and directories of local organizations like BVU

– The Center for Non-Profit Excellence, Engage! Cleveland - A Catalyst for Cleveland’s Young Professional

Community, and Cleveland Social Venture Partners that people can connect with to accelerate the

application of purpose in their life and organizations. We like to think of these resources as “on ramps” to the

purpose highway.

©2014 Purpose Capital Cleveland. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SCOT LOWRY

Scot Lowry is a PurposeCapitalCleveland.com Co-Founder. He is also CEO of Fathom, a

digital marketing and analytics consultancy based in Cleveland. He is passionate about

creating purpose-rich cultures that encourage people to reach for their full potential,

capture their dreams, and make a positive contribution in the world.

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