Leaders of companies and organizations are in a unique position to make a real impact on the world, to the benefit of their companies, their customers, their employees, and their communities.

And they’re squandering the opportunity.

Instead of being active on platforms like LinkedIn, or sharing their perspectives with speeches, podcasts, and even books, they’re mostly silent, opting to just “get shit done” and leave the social media to the marketing or PR departments.

Or worse, they’re spouting meaningless corporate BS, most likely written by the aforementioned PR department, that nobody reads and nobody believes.

It’s a shame, because as I mentioned, it’s a missed opportunity.

So let’s talk about that opportunity first.

The Opportunity

Filmmaker Robert Mayer Burnett said, “The currency of our current age is authenticity.”

I don’t know when he said it, but that might be the quote of the decade. There is a glut of boring, soulless, over-promotional content, and people are tired of it. They are starving for ideas, experiences, and stories that are real.

Therein lies the opportunity.

With just a little bit of effort, and a dash of bravery, CEOs, founders, and senior leaders can create content that matters. Gets the attention and trust of their customers. Provides purpose and direction to employees. Helps people around the world.

How do you do it? There are lots of ways, but one of the best ways I’ve seen is to use your content to pursue a mission.

Mission-Driven Content

CEOs, founders, executives, and senior leaders who are best at telling their stories and sharing their ideas do so with a mission in mind. They want to help people and create some sort of positive change in the world.

Andrew Brown’s mission is to promote careers in the skilled trades. So he creates engaging videos educating people about the opportunities the skilled trades hold, and the problems caused by the lack of people in those careers.

Nate Randle’s mission (one of them) is to protect kids from the scourge of social media and device addiction. He uses his platform to celebrate the employees at Gabb who work hard to serve parents.

Terry Vaughan’s mission is to help people avoid being the victim of a crime. He uses his content, speeches, and seminars to teach people how to read body language and remove themselves from dangerous situations.

Each of these leaders approaches their content creation in a different way. All of them are driven by a mission. None of them are trying to sell stuff through their content.

But they are getting attention, gaining trust, and building strong personal brands.

What’s Your Mission?

You don’t have to be saving the world. Your mission can be about helping your customers save money, or helping your employees be more fulfilled.

It just needs to be based on your ideas, experiences, andstories. Start by completing this sentence.

“If people only understood _____, then they would _____.”

Having a clear mission grounds you and your content in authentically serving your audience, without expectation of return. People then gravitate to you, follow you, and trust you. And that unlocks opportunities.

If you want help building your brand with mission-drivencontent and stories, I would be happy to help you.