Values: From Purpose to The Empathy Driven Life

I work for a corporate, and I have to admit that our own "Marketing Guru's" have done a brilliant job looking introspectively and relaunching our Brand this month.

Over the last 5 years, we have come along way and now operate across a wide range of consumer markets. We have a solid “we will be the best yada, yada, yada…” type mission (purpose) statement and aligned values of “trust, security, integrity etc.”.

And in the past it’s our Vision, Mission and Values (Purpose) that has driven us…

But the thing that’s now changing is the fact that our brand which used to be aligned to our corporate values is now being repositioned in order to convey “EMPATHY”.

Our values will stand, and our purpose remains the same – but we are finally learning that really, really understanding the customer and catering for their needs is what needs to drive us. Not in a way that we think is appropriate, but in a way that is appropriate to the customer.

In some ways we are now moving from being a ‘purpose driven’ organization to being an ‘empathy driven’ organization.

Until recently, I used to think that I was an empathetic person – until a much wiser person than me advised that if you really want to understand how a person is feeling and why they are behave the way that they do “you need to feel their pain” – i.e. Listen to what are they trying to tell us in their own language.

Most good Marketing principles cascade down from the academic institutions to the corporate 'think-tanks', then to business and then adopted by other institutions. There is nothing wrong with this - as all good principles are God-created.

I read Rick Warren's book a few years ago and it certainly made me think about having 'purpose' in my life.

Maybe it’s only a matter of time before before we see a new book series permeating our book shelves and Christian circles entitled the "Empathy Driven Life".
 
I know I will need to read and apply the principles in it.