No, You Don’t Need to Sacrifice Making Money for a Strong Mission

I can point to two moments while attending college that put me on the path to where I am today as a social entrepreneur and business leader. 

First, I started a business printing T-shirts. I made a decent amount of money from this business and even used it to complete an internship requirement for my degree. 

The second moment came during a campus ministry trip to Tijuana, Mexico, where I volunteered to help build homes. That feeling of doing something good for others inspired me to think differently about my work and compensation. I received a huge emotional paycheck for my effort to build those homes.    

That’s when I had an epiphany: how could I feel this good about doing something for others in my daily life while making a good living? 

What if I used the profits from my T-shirt business to help build more homes? Would that be possible? 

I took the question to one of my business professors. 

His immediate answer? 

No.

“You need to preserve your profits for your shareholders,” he explained. 

But I own the company, I thought to myself. “Can’t I choose what I want to do with my company’s earnings?” I asked.

His answer was still no. “Making money is the sole purpose of a company,” was his message. 

That didn’t sit right with me and inspired me to prove him wrong. It put me on the path to one of my defining philosophies as a CEO: in business, you can do well by doing good. Ironically, it might just make your business more financially successful and make your life fuller of meaning and purpose.   

Scarcity vs. Abundance Mindset

I’ve come to see that most CEOs lead their businesses with a scarcity mindset. They live in fear that everything is limited – whether it’s people, time, new opportunities or money. They have been taught that short-term profit maximization is the purpose of business. This is exactly what my university professor tried to impress on me.

When you introduce value creation other than monetary returns to shareholders (aka mission = social good, environmental sustainability, capability creation, brand awareness) into the business, that’s where the scarcity mind immediately calculates a negative cost versus an investment in a long-term benefit. The scarcity-minded CEO believes “mission” only subtracts from the business margin. (Margin – Mission = Less Profit)

But I don’t agree with that mindset. In fact, mine is focused on a state of abundance. My cup is not half empty or half full; it is refillable. I firmly believe having a strong mission-driven business multiplies both financial (margin) and mission success. 

At Sunrise Banks, for example, we focus on mission and capability creation to differentiate ourselves from other financial institutions. Our mission is an asset (not recognized on our balance sheet) that drives new business to us. It is who we are and what we sell. 

When we ask ourselves why people should bank with us, we want them to choose us because we offer options that other financial institutions don’t. We offer opportunities to do good in their communities with their money. And we invite them to join us because our values align with theirs. 

Using that abundance mindset to build our mission has led to more customers, more employees, more innovation, big opportunities and…wait for it…growing profitability. That provides us the financial resources to do more good. 

Partnerships and Collaborations 

Our abundance mindset also positions us to partner with other values-aligned businesses and organizations to expand our capabilities and impact. There is nothing we can’t do if we have the right partners and collaborators.

I like to use the classic starfish story to help illustrate this point. 

The classic (scarcity) starfish story: Let’s say you’re walking along the beach, and you see a starfish in the sand. You stop, pick it up and gently place it back into the ocean so it doesn’t die. Then you see another starfish a few feet away. You do the same. You see more starfish and do the same thing. I stop you and ask, “Hey, what are you doing?” You respond, “I’m trying to save all the starfish from dying.” In this example, you’re the only one who can save the starfish on this beach. 

The new (abundant) starfish story: Now imagine this same scenario, but instead of being the only one saving the starfish, you respond, “I know I can’t save all of them, but I have friends who share my same values and they will come and help me. Then, they will contact others who share their passion for this beach ecosystem. Then, we will not only save the starfish, but we will improve the reef and benefit all the marine life and have a healthy beach to enjoy.”

By working together, this shows how we can align our values to solve problems and have a positive impact at scale. 

For some leaders, partnering and collaborating with other organizations is scary. They fear others will steal their ideas or take credit for their work. They have no sight line beyond themselves or their company and, as a result, limit their personal and company growth. 

Partnerships and collaborations can exponentially grow a company’s mission and margin. Want proof? Sunrise Banks is now in its third round of 10x asset growth. Starting from $14 million in 1995, it has grown past $140 million (1^st), then $1.4 billion (2^nd), and today has $2.4 billion in total assets on our journey to $14 billion (3^rd). Sunrise Banks’ 10x total asset growth is built on its mission lending and values-aligned partnerships to achieve greater than 60% of its loans year-in and year-out being made to low to moderate-income people and places. 

My Challenge to You

Become an abundance leader – think beyond just profit to making something bigger than yourself. Inspire others to join you. Exponentially expand your capabilities with partnerships and collaborations. Visualize a company and a personal life of earning double paycheck of margin and mission every day. 

About the Author

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