Leading with Purpose in Times of Crisis
I am often asked by audiences, specially bright-eyed students, to explain the meaning of the word ‘purpose.’
Let me confess, it’s a tough one to explain, but rather easy to feel. The other day I felt purpose and saw the embodiment of it, when our people were walking into the Network Operations Center (NOC) that keeps our mobile networks operational. It’s in these times of global crisis that we see the extraordinariness of ordinary people like us step forward to keep our lifelines pulsating.
I am witnessing purpose everywhere, from our doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, policemen, emergency service workers. I looked out of my balcony at the streets below, and found that those are clean, which means that our conservancy employees are working. Our milk and emergency food supplies are up and running. I feel, witness and see purpose being translated into action. Purpose, in my opinion is action with a clear human focus. Our success is measured by the way we touch and transform lives.
There’s another question that I get asked; “Can profits and purpose coexist?” The answer is a resounding yes.
Profits are an outcome of strong purpose driven actions. In these times of extreme crisis, we have to breathe life into the vision and mission statements that we so proudly frame in the walls of our offices. We must demonstrate that we put our people first, put their health and safety before anything else, serve our clients by walking the extra mile when they need it the most.
Let’s understand something clearly, that we are in this crisis together and we will come out of it together. Our lives will resume its normal course, businesses will be back on their feet, and when it happens our people, our clients will remember that we stood by them when they needed us the most. That is my take on the meaning of purpose. I am there for you, I think of you, I pray for you and I will do everything in my power to help you; if we all say this to each other, we’re going to come out of this stronger than today. Humanity will have found its purpose to live in harmony with nature.
Oracle Cloud Technical Manager
4 年Amazed as you explained the cornerstone of business ethics in today’s world of confusing greed and profit
Head of Offshore Operations at Copilot Net LLC
4 年The article is no less than a "hypnotic, flowery and so called a leader's masterstroke". Its often said "if actions do not prove your words, then your words are nothing less than lies". Unlike the crowd I decry the article because I will definitely not laud a book on "Satyagraha Movement" penned by Adolf Hitler. While there would be raised eyebrows by now let me bring 3 facts into perspective. 1. The NOC engineers who show extraordinariness to keep the telecom lifelines pulsating are the same ordinary men who are equally scared about their own life and their family lives. Being close to a big community of telecom teams working across various units , I can bet 9 out of 10 NOC engineers are just doing it for the sake of clinging to a job. To assess my point, open a job position with a similar skillset in a different unit and one can see all NOC members rushing for that position. What we read as extraordinariness is factually 'compulsions'. 2. The resounding 'Yes' to the the question of 'Can Profit and Purpose coexist' is highly dependant on 'Who' and 'What' one sees as a 'purpose'. There was a time in Ericsson when Profits were at stake and during that time the organization hardly cared about the individuals who kept the telecom lifelines pulsating. Also the serial key contributors who sacrificed a lot of their own for the company were not spared when it came to garner profit. For me Purpose is all about a conviction for the bigger cause of others good even if it comes with a sacrifice of own equity 3. I saw the other day GM in US halted their normal manufacturing to switch to manufacturing ventillators for rapidly increasing Covoid-19 patients, today I heard Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto saying at the outset of Covoid-19 "If there's a sacrifice, it'll start at the top. I will say no salary for me, before 1 person is let go". While leaders all around the world are going the extra mile to fight the menace of Covoid-19, CEO of Ericsson has choosen to stay on course when he said "We are continuing to stay close to our customers to understand their needs, and we are doing everything possible to support our customers to maximize their network capacity and performance.". No matter what we write ot what we speak it is only our act especially during hard times that propagates faster and deeper into people's mind
Telco & Media Sales @TATA Elxsi Europe | Business Development | HEC Paris Executive MBA
4 年Nicely penned! This is a time when performance is not defined by a company’s share price or operating margins.? This is a time when performance will be judged by how a company and its leadership serve everyone and fulfill a higher purpose.
Executive Coach/Mentor/Corporate Trainer/Leadership Advisory/ Facilitator/Executive Recruiter/Growth hacker
4 年A very purposeful writing relevant to all.. after reading this, I remember what Gautama Budha had preached "Nothing ever exists entirely alone;everything is in relation to everything else" thanks for the post..
Industry Academia Evangelist, People Transformation Specialist and Business Coach. Professor of Practice - Department of Management
4 年This is really helpful in building my growth mindset.. rather slowly moving to Transformation mind set