How does a small- to mid-sized corporation make an enduring difference in its community? By unearthing a local cause and committing to produce THE difference.
My enterprise has been blessed in countless respects – magnificent clients, a pioneering industry, and increasing revenues and profits each year. Like scores of executives, I entertain calls and letters each month in relation to supporting this or that charity or community assemblage. One wants to lend a hand but, as a business owner, one also has restricted resources coupled with the aspiration to create a long-term difference (on balance, it’s in our blood).
Several years ago, my wife and her neighboring MOMS Club members required some support transporting donated food, toiletries, and everyday items to our local Settlement House, a community-based organization to be of assistance to disadvantaged families. We loaded up the SUV and down the hill we went.
At the Settlement House, my wife and now four year-old daughter helped me unpack the truck of the necessaries of life. As I stacked case after case of items from Sam’s Club, I made eye contact with a man who stood before me with his wife and four year-old daughter. For that instant in time, we were one and the same in all that matters most – two men doing their best to provide for their families. I immediately distinguished where my company could make THE difference in my community. For all of the $250 and $500 contributions made to numerous excellent charities, not any made such a difference as combining those amounts to repeatedly make THE difference for my home Settlement House. Rising Above Enterprises has made THE major difference since.
Where can your venture make THE difference in serving your community? Could you make financial arrangements so that three-fourths of your philanthropic resources go to one local charitable trust or foundation? There’s still room for some good quality mixed causes, but what a statement of leadership to truly distinguish THE difference your company can create. This year, settle on on a cause and make a colossal, if not THE, difference. You’ll observe more than your dollars and volunteer time at work; you will witness elite results from your focused efforts. That’s a resilient model of One Percent Leadership™.
