FOUNDER INSIDE
During the global goals week, those in the know celebrate the 17 sustainable development goals set out by the UN in the Agenda 2030. A truthful display of a purpose as an SDG takes place when the founder has found hers – then the business has a secure true North.
I am a serial entrepreneur and maintain a deep conviction that to change a company towards a clear purpose we founders and owners must be self-aware first. Then on to the next quest, being curious and attentive to other people you work and intend to work with.
Focus on the intangible and unseen, the hidden emotions, the core values. Discuss with your co-founders, board, employees and investors. The SDGs are a politically correct way of exploring values of the people in your business. Perhaps a crack opens and you can feel the sore areas. Deep emotions lie in the shadows – in personal stories about burnouts, bankruptcies, illnesses, wrong doings and death.
I revisited losing my father when I was 18 and he was 45 – my little brother was 15 years old then. We two were left with a heap of mortgage under the Finnish banking crisis. We had an Amiga 500 to pay the bills via modem connection to the bank. This fear of leaving my kids early with burden of mortgage continued to plague me to a burnout, and a few close shots. My oldest son is now 19 and I am 48.
Harmony in life can be attained – by finding the founder inside. Do more than scratch the surface, the external. Go deeper than the psycho-physical. Meet your fears, your true north and purpose is found in the spiritual realm – in the heart and the soul.
This very day I am excited to learn daily more about my purpose. My day job business is a complex, many consider impossible mission that reflects the WHY and my relationship to the world (I work on equal access to finance and the internet – for the common good of everyone.)
Oxygen hosts “Founder Inside” online unconference on this topic of personal development on the 9th of October. Sign-ups here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElf-ysrzwtEtR7LuilsChEOu9ESLbqr91m
