Wow. The Sunday before Christmas. How awesome is it that Christmas is on a Monday?

We get to be with our families, go to church and get our minds focused on the gift of Jesus – all the day before Christmas!

My Christmas wish is not just for you, it is for you, your employees, the customers you serve and the suppliers and vendors you work with every day. My wish comes in three parts.

Wish #1: That you would rediscover the greater reason your organization exists. Your why, your purpose, whatever you want to call it. It is what would be missing from the world if your company ceased to exist.

All organizations exist to meet a human need, so there is a greater, altruistic reason your company exists. It may take a little digging, but you can find it.

When you do find it, make a big deal out of it. Tell everyone you know about it. Make sure nobody inside or outside of your organization can miss it. Ask everyone you know to hold you accountable to serving this mission.

As you seek to authentically serve your greater purpose, your team members, your vendors and your community will find merit in helping you make a positive difference in the world.

Wish #2: Be a great place to work. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. It is also the most profitable way to run a business. Drop me an email and I’ll send you the studies that prove it.

You do not have to pay your people twice what your competitors do but you do have to pay them fairly. Pay them fairly and give them an amazing place to work. Inspire them to become the best they can be. Teach them how to win in life and in your organization. Listen to them and respond. They have great ideas.

Celebrate their families and do everything you can to make their families a success. Great leaders at work are great leaders at home. It is mutually beneficial for your people to succeed at work and at home. 

Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-a are just two examples of organizations who have outperformed their competition while helping their leaders build great families. 

Wish #3: Stand for the Golden Rule as an organization. The Golden Rule is a universal standard. Most religions have a version of it. It is a simple test. 

Treat others the way you would like to be treated. An even stronger version of the rule is treat others the way you would want your children treated. We can stand some mistreatment of us, but not of the ones we love.

Following the Golden Rule might cost you some battles in the short term, but you’ll win the war by following it.

Those are my three wishes for your business this Christmas season. Find purpose in your work, make working with you a win for your employees and follow the Golden Rule. If we can do those three things, we can build better businesses, better workplaces and a better world.

Curt Fowler is an organizational growth expert and president of Fowler & Company, a business advisory firm dedicated to helping leaders create and achieve a compelling vision for their organization. He has an MBA in strategy and entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School, is a CPA, and a pretty good guy as defined by his wife and four children.

Have a business growth topic you’d like me to cover? Send suggestions to cfowler@valuesdrivenresults.com.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.