You are the Solution: What Today’s Entrepreneurs Can Learn from the Guinness Legacy.

Hang around offices and boardrooms long enough and you’re bound to hear buzzwords like “purpose,” “impact,” and “disruptive” being tossed around. But did you know that long before these terms were trendy, one 18th-century entrepreneur was literally living them out.

His name was Arthur Guinness: founder of the 260-year-old beer brand we know today as Guinness.  His legacy proves one powerful truth: when business starts with a conviction, it can not only reshape markets, but it can change entire communities and generations to come.

Let’s set some context by rewinding to the year 1759. The streets of Dublin, Ireland were drowning in cheap gin, widespread poverty, and social unrest. From unsafe drinking water contaminated by sewage to exploitative and dangerous work environments, families were being torn apart as people lost themselves and their loved ones to alcoholism.

While others turned a blind eye, Arthur Guinness turned to prayer. As a man of faith, he was constantly asking God to intervene and do something about the problem. At some point along the way, his perspective shifted from “something needs to be done about this,” to “someone needs to do something about this,” to “I need to do something about this.”

If you’ve ever faced a larger-than-life problem that tugs at your heart and then causes you to face all sorts of self-doubt and insecurity, you’re not alone. From “who do I think I am that I could make a difference?” to “what could I possibly do—I don’t have a clue where to start?”, you can be sure that Arthur wrestled with these same thoughts as he prayed about and pondered the problem.

Ironically it would be from this very place of uncertainty that he would ultimately receive his inspiration. We can imagine the narrative going on in his head probably went something like this: “What could I possibly have to offer that could help people out of the ravages of alcoholism and poverty? I’m just a brewer. I’m in the very business causing the problem. What do I do? Is it even possible to stop people from drinking?”

According to historians, Arthur felt ‘called’ to “make a drink that men will drink that will be good for them” – to take what he had in his hands, his talent for brewing, and use it for good. He would take the very thing that was destroying people’s lives and change it into a drink that was better for them.

He went on to create a stout beer that was not just a safer alternative to spirits but was also so rich in iron and other nutrients that people were nourished and satiated. And with that the Guinness company was born – not just as a business, but as a mission.

That mission extended beyond the product they sold and was embedded into every aspect of how the Guinness company operated. In a time when the very thought of workers having rights would have been preposterous, Guinness employees received free healthcare, paid holidays, meals, housing, education and in later years they even received pensions. These weren’t special perks, they were values in action – if your mission is to help people, that includes your employees and their families.

The Guinness model isn’t some cute relic of the past – it’s really a playbook for how business should be run. And it’s a call to action for all of us: if a problem in your community or the world troubles you, that may be a sign that you’re being convicted to do something about it.

 So, what’s your Guinness?

• What problem do you see in the world that bothers you personally?

• What do you have in your hands and how might you be able to use that to help solve this problem?

• What business can you build that leaves people and the planet better than you found them?

Start there. Start now.

Let your conviction become your compass to guide you to the work you’ve been uniquely created to do.

#TGIM