When people understand this about me, everything about the relationship changes
When people finally get what you're really about. How authentic purpose builds unshakeable trust with clients and investors.
By Simon Doble
Talking to partners, investors or clients, there often comes a moment when they either walk away or double their investment. Most people that haven’t dealt with me before have trouble understanding it at first, but when the penny finally drops, that’s when everything changes. Not for me, but for them.
So, what’s the secret? Money.
When people realize that money isn’t on the table for me, that it isn’t the primary driver, that’s when they finally understand how to work with us.
Suddenly, the scepticism towards our motivations goes away and people start understanding how we work and how to work with us. If they were in it just for profit, they understand this relationship is not for them. But if they care about something more, it acts as an important reassurance.
“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business”
– Henry Ford
Why? Because people walk around the world with a construct in their mind, an explanation of how the world works and what’s the motivations of others. In business, most people’s construct is that we’re in it to make money and anything beyond that is an afterthought.
But for us, that beyond is a pre-requisite.
We’re in business for social impact. We think about purpose and the change that we bring about in the world first. Money is a byproduct of what we do. It comes, money always comes, but it’s not the main driver.
I’ve said this to many investors before (and my board is not always happy with me for that) and they have either walked away or invested more than they initially intended
"A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart”
– Jonathan Swift
The truth is that 99% of people on this planet chase only money. They’re constantly striving for more, and it’s constantly getting away from them. That’s what happens if you’re chasing things, striving for more and living in the scarcity mindset. You’re chasing them for a reason.
At a very young age, I was told: “Do good things and good things will happen to you.” If you chase money, it will only run away, but if you do good things, it will come and stay.
I live by that. Always have and always will.
For me, money is not what makes me happy and fulfilled. Sure, I’ve done well financially, but I never chased it or needed it. It’s the purpose, the impact, the lives changed that fills my cup.
When people realize that this is genuine - that you really don’t care about money, that the only driver is how people react when you leave the room, how the lives of the people you serve are going to be different - that changes everything.
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