Roy Spence has helped organizations such as Southwest Airlines, BMW, the University of Texas, Wal-Mart, the Clinton Global Initiative, and many others achieve greatness by obsessing about one big idea: purpose. Simply put, purpose is a definitive statement about the difference you are trying to make in the world.
Purpose is the key to creating and maintaining a high-performing organization, deserving just as much attention as strategy, execution, and innovation. A real purpose can't just be words on paper. It has to get under the skin of every member of your organization - like Southwest's purpose of "democratizing the skies" or Wal-Mart's of "saving people money so they can live better." If you get it right, your people will feel great about what they're doing, clear about their goals, and excited to get to work every morning.

This audiobook will help you discover your organization's purpose, proclaim it to the world, and apply it to everything you do. It will force your organization to address some tough and profound questions:

? What do we really stand for?
? Do our employees feel like what they do matters?
? Would our customers miss us if we ceased to exist?
? Do we bring our purpose to life everywhere we can?

Spence's hard-won lessons will change the way you view your job, your business model, your leadership style, and your marketing. They will help you make money, make a difference, and - with a little luck - make history.

Roy Spence runs a consulting firm that helps companies understand the importance of having a purpose other than simply making money. It's a compelling concept for business as well as for the general good, but it's also a very simple one, and this audio repeats the same uncomplicated ideas over and over, using Spence's own clients as glowing examples. Bill Weideman's narration has the feel of a newsreader's, inoffensive but detached. Ironically, the production might have been improved if the entire text had been presented by Spence, who reads only the introduction. Spence has a charming Texas drawl and an infectious enthusiasm that might have made the next nine hours easier to listen to. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

 

Roy M. Spence, Jr., is chairman and CEO of GSD&M Idea City, a leading national marketing communications and advertising company that has helped grow some of the world's most successful brands.

Haley Rushing is chief purposologist and cofounder of the Purpose Institute along with Roy Spence.

Both authors live in Austin, Texas.