Why Purpose is the New Currency of Business
Business is no longer about profit and profit alone. Today’s entrepreneurs are defined as much by their ambition to change the world as they are by a desire to make their fortune.
What is the role of business in society? It’s a debate all too often dominated by the political notion that business equals profit. That couldn’t be more wrong: the successful companies of today are motivated by a broader social purpose: to effect change and make a difference. They are the Carers, who want to improve people’s lives; Sharers, who harness the power of the Internet to bring people together; and Darers, who seek to make the impossible real.
Michael Hayman MBE
Michael is co-founder of Seven Hills, the fast-growth and highly acclaimed campaigns firm. He is also co-founder of StartUp Britain, the national initiative for early-stage enterprise launched by the Prime Minister and fully supported by HM Government. The campaign helped to create the environment for a record-breaking 500,000 new business registrations in 2013.
Michael has worked at the heart of the national enterprise effort assisting the Department for Business on the development of initiatives including Start-Up Loans, Business in You, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Small Business Charter, on whose management board he also sits. As a member of Catalyst UK he works with UK Trade & Investment to promote UK excellence internationally.
He is Chairman of Entrepreneurs at the private bank Coutts, and is an Advisory Board Member for the National Business Awards. He has also been appointed Honorary Fellow of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning.
Michael co-founded HRH The Duke of York’s E20 advocacy group for entrepreneurs and serves on the steering board of the Inspiring Digital Enterprise Awards alongside HRH The Duke of York and the musician will.i.am.
He is one of GQ Magazine’s inaugural 100 Most Connected Men, and was awarded an MBE in the 2014 New Year’s Honours List for services to enterprise promotion.