Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies: The Starting Point of Great Companies

by Nikos Mourkogiannis, Roger Fisher (Foreword)

In Purpose , world-renowned thought leader Nikos Mourkogiannis turns the entire idea of leadership on its head and shows that the choice between values and success is no choice at all. Mourkogiannis argues that companies must satisfy the need for purpose--a set of values that defines an organization and inspires and motivates its employees. Rather than organization and structure, ideas are what cause companies to go from good to great. Drawing on examples from across multiple industries, Mourkogiannis demonstrates how a strong purpose is the essential first step toward lasting success.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership, Management, Buisness, Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2006

Reviews

[Vincent V]

Well you also need funding and so on, but purpose is something why you should wake up into the world everyday and is definitely important in fact crucial. Purpose is needed! That's the summary no need to kind of read this book.

[Ben]

If you are on the verge of discovering who you are or are thinking to yourself "my life needs meaning", this might be a good place to start. The book starts describing examples of three types of purposeful lives in the business world and their type of purpose. The last half of the book discusses more details as well as how to discover your purpose. Mine is "Excellence". Now I need to apply all of my focus and effort to execute on that.

[Phil Lamb]

What is the purpose of your business? Mourkogiannis identifies the four major types of purpose--discovery, excellence, altruism and heroism. I really liked the examples of Sam Walton, Warburg and Ford Motor.
It also opened my thinking as to the purpose of any company. The read teaches that we have different motives and nothing is wrong with that as long as we know which category we fall under.
Great book!

[David]

Purpose is an importantant element for any company to become a great company. Mourkogiannis has done a good job to help understand the Purpose.

[Evan]

Spent an hour with Nikos. Very insightful businessman. He signed my book.

[Wim Van Den Bossche]

A very interesting book showing that motivated, enthusiastic people go hand in hand with purpose driven companies. Most of these companies will and can generate the energy to play an important role in moving our world further into a better place to live. Purpose is indeed the number one question to answer or to look for an answer. Although the book was written in 2006, my second reading 15 years later makes me more convinced than ever.

[Gaylin]

Purpose has become a buzzword in the workplace. This work helps to deepen the dive into purpose and to inform our approaches in organisations. More leaders should be reading books like this, I encourage them to do so.

[Desi]

A good basic knowledge in terms of economics. You can find examples of how you can achieve great success in your company if you define your purpose well. The last couple of pages are useful if you want to get deeper into the topic

[Katrika Henry]

My life is based the unwritten laws of business, this book will always deserve 5 *

[Shivani Gupta]

Good book on Purpose reflecting on how great companies become great following their purpose rather than simply focusing on making money. When purpose follows, money is a byproduct.

[Josh Clausen]

Read the first chapter; skip to page 150.

Basically, without Purpose, everything is pointless.

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

The topic is interesting and today more than never, purpose its an upcoming need to nurture not only business but persons alike.

As many business book, the main topics are underlines over and over again and the "essence" of the book takes no more than 25-30 pages.

But its pleasant and easy to read. Don't expect literary flourishment though, since the consulting background of the author is highly recognizable. Short and precise sentences and crystal paragraphs.

I enjoyed the zooms on the Watsons, buffets, etc and see the underlying history of their business and lifes.

[Jonathan Collins]

Blog post hiding as a book.

[Marc Brackett]

I think that I've read to many of the books in this genre. Had this been the first book I read in this particular genre no doubt I would have been far more impressed. At this point the stories are all well known to me.

I also didn't find the categories or means by which the author sorted businesses to be of great value. The system being used was to rigid and not in touch with how business actually works in the real world. Just picking one or four across several categories is not realistic, a better approach would include some sort of averaging that could better reflect a businesses strengths and weaknesses.