I watched an old Steve Jobs speech recently where he spoke about how the best companies in the world are built around values not products. He talked about how the greatest companies in the world, the ones that endure for decades, such as Nike and Disney, don’t talk about their products at all. They explain what they stand for. Their core values come through in everything they do. They have a north star guiding them. It's how he built Apple too. Nike's north star was celebrating the spirit of athletics. For Disney, it was being a storytelling company that connects with people's hearts.
Every company begins with some version of a dream. It might be to solve a problem the founder couldn’t ignore, to disrupt an industry that had grown complacent, or to capture an opportunity others had overlooked. But dreams fade quickly in the grind of the day-to-day reality. Budgets, investor updates, quarterly earnings reports, staffing challenges all consume a leader’s attention. While a north star doesn’t remove these pressures, it anchors the business against them. It helps to define why we’re here, what matters, and what we will not compromise on.
The great companies that endure almost always have this clarity. One of the best examples is Patagonia, whose north star is not to sell outdoor gear but to save the planet. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, that purpose threads through every decision at the company, from the materials they use, the campaigns they run, even the decision to give away the entire company to a trust dedicated to fighting climate change. It’s why people buy from them, why employees want to work there, and why the company matters to the people they serve.
Just how meaningful this is hit home in a recent podcast interview I did with Barry Saad, founder of Truck Tech here in Sydney. He started the business with his wife and one service truck in 2007. Today the business employs over 140 people and services more than 7,000 assets, including trucks and buses. He talked about his industry and how he feels that the work they do is the most important and meaningful in the world. That comment struck me. I mean I’m all about being passionate but how important is servicing a truck or bus really?
It turns out really important, and it didn’t take long for Barry to make me see things in a completely different way. What Barry and his team do, he explained, is make sure that the truck drivers get home to their families each night. They make sure that the kids on the buses are safe, so they too get home safely to their families. I’d read about great companies in business case studies who had brilliantly defined what they do and why they do it, but none had hit me quite like this. In the blink of an eye Barry made me understand the real power of a north star.
With a north star everything becomes clear. A north star cuts through the noise. It’s the single purpose that everything else revolves around. When a company has a clear north star, it knows what to say no to as much as what to say yes to. Being clear about your values and why you exist leads to long-term decisions without compromising on standards. A personal north star is no different. Which is why it’s difficult for companies and people who have not yet defined one to truly flourish.
We live in an era where distractions are endless, and the pace of change can be overwhelming. The companies that survive and the people who thrive will be the ones who know where they’re going and why. Everything else follows on from that. But this idea isn’t just for businesses. Life offers us an endless series of choices from which career to pursue, which city to live in, which relationships to nurture, how to spend our limited time. Whether it's for a business or personal north star, it is the answer to the question of what our values are and what we really want to do in life. It doesn’t have to be poetic or grand. It just has to be true.
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