How to create meaningful impact with your business

Business owners are always looking for ways to deepen their impact and make a difference with their work. Some key themes that people often want to see reflected in their business include: trust, transparency, freedom, impact, honesty, change, feedback and action.

There are four business leaders that I want to discuss here, and their approaches to impact business, culture, and leadership.

Impact business: Moral ambition

Rutger Bregman talks about moral ambition. He asks us what we are doing with our privilege. He believes that the greatest waste is the waste of talent and that the answer to this problem is having moral ambition.

Time is precious and limited in quantity, so action is needed now. It seems that although almost everyone is aware of the problems that we face, action is in short supply.

He believes it's important for business people to focus on work that sits at the intersection of ambition and idealism. Work that can deeply change people’s lives. There are three ingredients to this kind of work.

1. Redefine what it means to be successful
2. Focus on maximum impact
3. Relentless prioritisation

When prioritising, use these three criteria:

1. Is it important?
2. Is it neglected, or are not many people addressing the problem?
3.  Is it tractable, or can progress be made?

Importantly, he says that trying isn’t good enough - being a "noble loser" doesn’t help the situation.

“In the fight against injustice, winning is a moral duty.”

And if you’re thinking that this doesn’t sound like something you could do because you believe certain people are born for this kind of work, Rutger also said, “Moral ambition is not a character trait. Moral ambition is a mindset. Moral ambition is an infectious mindset.”

Find the issue you want to begin to solve, and ask people to help you. Many of them will.

Impact culture: Freedom, dilemmas and context

Erin Meyer focuses on organisational culture and how to create an environment of reinvention. Even if you don’t have any employees, you are creating a culture with your work and how you innovate within your business.

She invites us to think in terms of dilemmas instead of absolutes. Rather than declaring that it’s one way or not at all, it’s better to describe the context and the situation. And then be guided by which direction you want to lean on the continuum.

The good news is that excellent performance is contagious. The bad news is that poor performance is also contagious. She likes to use the "Keeper Test" in relation to employees. Small business owners can use it for partners, contractors, or even clients.

This is the test: If the person in question came to you and told you they no longer wanted to work with you, would you feel devastated or relieved?

That feeling can guide you in the right direction for making your decision. And if you want to grow as a leader, ask for feedback. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s worth it.

The big takeaway from Erin's philosophy is that “Freedom is the path to responsibility.” Give freedom to get responsibility. As a business owner, I suggest you take this message to heart and remind yourself that you have the freedom to design your business into anything you can imagine.

Impact leadership: Resilience, experimentation and focus

Maryna Saprykina's work is focused on supporting Ukrainian women entrepreneurs in this deeply difficult time. Her goal is to reach one million women.

She believes there are five keys to empowering your business:

1. Speed: How quickly can you make decisions when the external situation changes?
2. Your big objective: This isn’t always about money.
3. Your values: How far will you go to uphold your values?
4. People and families: This includes mental health.
5. Customers: Focus on meeting their needs.

Tim Ferris has a few practical tips for taking ownership of your business and the direction it is heading in:

• Experiment on a small scale. If you have an idea for something new, test it out for a couple of weeks in a low-cost, easy way.
• When learning new ideas from a conference, podcast or book, take notes and then make a list of action points from which you can learn.
• Don’t get stuck on the "personal development treadmill". Take action, don’t use learning more as a way to procrastinate.
• A good leader makes important decisions even when they aren’t popular. “Being a leader is hard and uncomfortable.”
• Great leaders focus on big things, not details. To help with this, batch activities like meetings and interviews on a certain day of the week.
• Every quarter, go away for a few days for perspective and space to think.
• Feedback is a gift.

Be the change you want to see in the world

Hopefully, you're feeling inspired by some of these ideas and plan to implement them. Remember - it's your business, and you get to set its goals, values and priorities. Making sure they align with your moral values will help you create impact in the world every day.