Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud

Chapter 13

Using Purpose to Eliminate Turf Wars and Silos

When people are financially invested they want a return. When people are emotionally invested they want to contribute.

—Simon Sinek

The two men glared at each other from opposite sides of the conference table, looking like mortal enemies—and in some ways, they were.

Steve, the younger of the two, had his hands perched on the arms of his chair, clenching his fingers on the edges as if he were ready to leap into battle. Bill looked like a war-weary solider at the age of 50. He’d been through this type of fight before, and he knew it wouldn’t end well. He loosened his tie, let out a sigh, and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and looking over his glasses, as if daring Steve to speak first.

It worked. Steve took the bait.

“My team can’t survive on this budget!” Steve shouted. “Are you trying to kill us?”

Bill looked at Steve with the dismissive disdain one might have for a chubby toddler stomping his feet for more cake. Steve was always whining about not getting enough. Didn’t he understand?

Bill had bigger issues to contend with; he reported to the top. Steve’s petty demands revealed what Bill had long suspected: Steve cared only about his own department. He wasn’t seeing the big picture. He thought to himself, “He just doesn’t get it.”

How many times have you found yourself saying that about a colleague? He or she just doesn’t get it. It’s the ultimate corporate insult.

The case of Bill and Steve is based on an actual ...