Three Daughters… and a Question to Shake Your World!

It wasn’t their stifled sobs that got to me.
It was this:

“He let me know that I mattered.
He listened to me.
He set aside time to be with me. Just me.

We were the very centre of his life.
His Purpose.”

The three daughters.
Talking about “My Dad”.

That was Monday.

On Tuesday I returned to my office… and stared at my PC screen.
And I thought of the hundreds of conversations I’ve conducted with leaders of financial planning firms.

Most have been able to proudly show me their ‘Mission Statement’.
And looking at those, I often realise… they’ve not understood at all!

What they show me is something they want to ACCOMPLISH.
And they confuse that with A MISSION.

But a Mission is not about accomplishment.
The question a Mission asks is far deeper than that.

It’s this:

“Who do you want to BECOME?
Individually… and collectively?”

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.

You can build a successful firm.
Grow revenues.
Win awards.
Achieve everything you once dreamed of.

And still… build something that never truly captures the hearts of the people around you.

Because human beings are not ultimately moved by accomplishment.
We are moved – deeply – by meaningful Purpose.

By something larger than ourselves.
Something worth standing for.
Something worth coming to work for on a Monday morning.
Something that makes our souls sing, as we see it unfolding.

Those financial planning firms that build genuine belief systems for their people become something rare and powerful.

They don’t just recruit and retain good people.
They create an extraordinary sense of belonging.
A sense that holds strong… even when everything outside the building feels uncertain.

And yes… there’s a commercial truth here too.

Companies that create that “something bigger” hold a powerful advantage over those that don’t.

But the deepest truth isn’t commercial.
It’s human.

And those three piercingly insightful daughters had already understood it. Because they’d lived with it.

They couldn’t give a hoot about their father’s accomplishments and achievements.
Few children ever do.

That to them was (as Steven R Covey explained)…
“Getting Lost in The Thick of Thin Things.”

What had shaped their lives was something far deeper.
His Underlying Purpose.

Which brings us finally to you.

What’s the Purpose you’re working by?
What Purpose in your business truly captures the soul… the spiritual passion… of the people whose lives you influence?

And many years from now…
What would those closest to you say about what you had built?

Because in the end…
it won’t be the achievements that matter most.

It will be the purpose they saw you living.

Those three daughters. They understand that.