Imagine David Letterman is on the streets of New York City with a microphone in hand. He has one question to ask those who happen to pass by, "What is the purpose of being in business?" "What do you think the most common response will be? I would guess that almost everyone, if not everyone, will answer that the purpose of being in business is to make money.

I’m going to suggest a different way of looking at this question. Imagine for a moment that the purpose of being in business was to Grow People! What would be different? How about, everything would be different and you would make more money as well!

I rented a movie the other day about industrial technology. I loved these lines from that movies main character;

"Lately I’ve been reading about some of our great entrepreneurs, Dupont, Rockefeller, Ford. Their ability to create great new wealth depended on the fact that they worked out on the edge, the leading edge, the frontier. It can be a scary place...but once you’ve stepped out onto the edge, it’s impossible to come back.

I welcome the challenges of the frontier. Institutions never create anything, individuals do. We are the thinkers, the planners, the visionaries, that will shape the future. It is our destiny not only to change to make people community, but to change the way people think."

It is my vision and quest to travel throughout the United States and abroad and speak the code. If individuals and groups would live their lives with integrity, the world would be a safer, more vibrant, healthy, and fulfilling place.

I do understand that this is a new way of thinking. However, all of the research that I have conducted points to similarities between those companies that are considered to be visionary versus those that are not. Companies such as Citicorp, Ford, Marriott, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, and Walt Disney all share a common code of integrity. I will give you my interpretation of that shared code.

These visionary companies live a culture, a belief system, that is shared by every level of the organization. One of these shared beliefs is that the purpose of being in business is to grow people. How do you grow people? You do this through coaching and a principle based organization. The following are the guiding principles that I believe are necessary for a company to be living in integrity.

Three Core Principles:

1) I do what I say I will do.

2). I can’t do it by myself. I am far better off as a part of a team than I can ever be by myself.

3) Accountability-I am the source of all that I experience.

Core principle #1: I do what I say I will do.

This is a fundamental principle. If an individual does not hold this as important, the entire system of core values fall apart. I support this principle by blasting the following myth:

I am better off by committing high and falling short, then committing lower and falling short.

Please understand that this is a myth, and is not true. One is not better off by unrealistically committing to big audacious and hairy goals. If an individual commits to an artificially high goal then the moment they start to question their ability to reach that goal, their motivation begins to dramatically decrease. The "pull" of hope no longer is present.

Replace that myth with MLO’s. Minimum level objectives. This concept embraces the first principle of living with integrity, I do what I said I would do. What is the minimum level you give your word you will do and falling short does not exist.

I have been in the training and coaching business for over twenty years. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard an individual say that they were committed to reach some goal and then not take the intended actions. They all had viable reasons, stories, priorities, unscheduled interruptions, and excuses. They all also didn’t do what they said they would do!

When you use MLO’s, you call upon Newtons’ third principle of physics, "inertia". "Any body in motion will remain in motion unless acted on by an external force" With huge unrealistic goals, the external force preventing the continuation of momentum is fear. Once individuals see "evidence" that they can’t do something they immediately buy into that evidence as being true and they live

If an individual had set a smaller, more realistic goal, then they would still maintain hope, and the chance to be successful and honor principle #1, I do what I said I would do. This goes against accepted ways of being such as, I should set big goals. I’m not against setting stretch goals. I simply request that you also give a bottom line that you give your word you will achieve no matter what. Try it!

Core principle #2: I can’t do it by myself. I am far better off as a part of a team than I can ever be alone.

Elite performers will never argue with this. They know that they must surround themselves with others. By doing so they create the atmosphere where learning, discovery, clarity, and accountability can occur.

Thy this simple experiment. Take thirty seconds and write down as many green vegetables as you can think of. Next, get a partner, and together, come up with one list of green vegetables in thirty seconds. In almost 100% of the cases, your list will be greater with a partner than it was by yourself.

Core principle #3: Accountability-I am the source of all that I experience.

The opposite of this principle is blaming. This principle is a source of strength for people. It doesn’t allow them to become a victim. This principle embraces the concept that human beings are very powerful at creating results in their own lives. These may be dysfunctional results however! Someone who is thirty pounds overweight has created a miracle of a result. How would they know how to regulate their intake and expenditure to gain thirty pounds. They are exactly where they are in their weight because that is exactly what their point of view supports. We are very powerful at manifesting our dominating thoughts.

Likewise, someone who has financial difficulties has exactly what they should have given their current financial point of view. If they want to have different results, it is not what is going on around them, the environment, the marketplace, etc. The answer lies in their own dysfunctional point of view. If they want to change the results they are experiencing, they must first change their point of view. After all, they are the source of all that they experience.

How do you change your point of view? That is actually a simple process. Decide first what you want. Next, what do you need to do to have what you want. Then, what will you do over the next seven days. This declaration needs to be very specific, observable and measurable.

The process is not complete until you have a structure for accountability in place. This must come from someone outside of yourself. Another person is needed to hold you accountable and to check back with you at the end of the week to see if you actually did what you said you would do.

This is the elite performance system that I have traveled throughout the United States and abroad teaching with tremendous results for all of those individuals who were not satisfied with who they were or what their accomplishments were in life. For those who wanted to be more fulfilled in their health, business and personal lives, this is the formula.

Try it on. Make a specific declaration to another person and then set out to execute for the next seven days. Design some type of a reward or punishment with that person and watch how your perception shifts. Now, because you have this dynamic of accountability in your life, instead of just seeing how busy you are and all of the reasons why you can’t do what you said you would do, you will see the opportunities to handle whatever comes your way and still honor what you said you would do.

Put one week after another together like this and you will have a miracle and magical year. Good luck!

Bob Davies is an internationally known author, speaker and professional coach who rose from poverty to become one of today's most sought-after keynote speakers. He is the author of two books, "The Sky Is Not The Limit-You Are!", and "Coaching For High Performance", as well as several audio and video cassette programs. He can be reached on the web at www.bobdavies.com or by phone at 949-830-9192.