Everyone is in business to make money.

Yet there is only so much you can incentivize people with money. No matter how much money you are giving to your employees as compensation, incentives and bonuses, they are most probably calculating how much more you are making and taking out of the business.

“If all you care about is money, then all your people will care about is money!” (you can quote me on this)

So how can you get your employees to care beyond a paycheck?

The answer is in your business’s purpose and long-term goals.

Money is like gas in a car. It is the fuel to get you somewhere. The question is, where are you going and why are you heading there?

Everyone wants to hire superstars and winners, but if you are hiring winners, they want to know what they are winning. What is in it for them?

People like and want money, because of the emotional gratification you get when you have money. What it gets you. A nicer car? A bigger house? More recognition? Security?

Therefore, it is important to inspire your people beyond money. Mayo Clinic pays doctors 10% below market value, yet they have the most dedicated staff and are one of the top medical clinics in the United States.

How is that? Because their employees have deeply bought into the company’s mission.

Money isn’t the only compensation employees receive from work. There are actually five ways we compensate employees in the workplace.

• Financially - Paying them a fair price for their value.
• Emotionally - Do they love what they do? Everyone wants to GWC their seat! (Get it, Want it and have the Capacity). People enjoy feeling accomplished and fulfilled.
• Socially - Is the work environment a nice place to work? Does everyone align with the company’s core values and fit like a glove as a cohesive team?
• Psychologically - Do your employees see opportunities for growth within your business?
• Spiritually - It is a human need to work for a greater purpose. To be a part of something bigger. Do your employees share in the company’s mission?

Now you see the importance of creating a “Mission” for your company, also known as a “Core Focus” in EOS terms.

What other purpose does your core focus serve?

Your core focus serves as a narrative for your business’s WHY.

Have you ever tried telling someone “I’m totally fine” while you are not and having them challenge you and say, “I can feel you aren’t being honest or telling me the whole story?” Human creatures feel energy and can sense motives and reasons beyond words. In the absence of a story, people make up their own story. Unless you tell the world your narrative loudly and clearly, your consumers and employees will make up their own narrative and it may be fragmented or even worse, a negative narrative that drives people away.

Besides being a dictating narrative, a “Core Focus,” as we call it in EOS, serves much more. As the word suggests, it comes from the core of the business. The founder and organization must stay laser-focused on it so as to not get distracted by shiny stuff. Visionaries by nature get easily distracted. You start a project and somewhere down the line it gets monotonous and boring and you decide to change course (maybe because of your weak follow-through abilities), but by doing so you are confusing and distracting your whole organization.

Part of your core focus is defining your “niche.” What are you great at? What is that ONE thing that you were planted on this planet to do more awesomely than anyone else?

THAT should be your niche. We all know people who were successful in one industry and then started divesting only to lose focus and business. “He used to be in healthcare and then went into real estate and it all went downhill from there.” Why is that? That is because we are each genetically encoded to do ONE thing superbly and are not meant to multitask and stretch our resources too thin and in many different ways.

A business owner’s core focus is deeply personal.

You cannot separate business from personal. Contrary to popular belief, business is deeply personal. We all have a reason for going into business and that is deeply personal. We all have a purpose, cause or passion that drives us beyond money. We may not be aware of it or ready to admit it.

It all goes back to when you were around 7 years old. Each of us had a challenge when we were younger, when we were defeated and vowed to “show them.” Maybe you were bullied in school, maybe you didn’t have the things your classmates had and felt left out, maybe you always wanted to innovate but felt stifled by your community or the system. Maybe you wanted to influence but instead kept being pushed into a “follower” seat. It is that motive that is still driving you today. Maybe unbeknownst to you. It is not a bad thing. It is what drives you beyond money. That is what makes you a visionary. Visionaries are driven beyond money.

Your core focus is also used as a tool to filter out the right fit clients, consumers and employees. Does this employee resonate with my mission? Does this customer appreciate why we do what we do? If they don’t, you will never see eye to eye and never be able to satisfy them.

Disney’s mission statement is “to make people happy.” It doesn’t say what they do or what they sell. It involves everyone. Their employees and their customers. You will never see a grumpy employee in DisneyLand. Why? Because they are so focused on making people happy, including their employees!

Mary Kay’s mission is to empower women. We all know someone who felt so proud of selling Mary Kay products and maybe winning a pink car. Mary Kay succeeded in empowering her salespeople AND customers. It is not just a cosmetic brand! It is a brand that sells empowerment!

To conclude, your company’s mission statement:

• Is stated in three to seven words
• Is written in simple language
• Is big and bold
• Has an a-ha effect
• Comes from the heart
• Involves everyone
• Goes beyond money
• Is bigger than a goal