Let’s have Authentic ‘Forwards’

Recently we had what everyone here referred to as a ‘retreat’.

You know; where the whole team gets away and spends days working together to plan the next quarter, the next year, the next decade even.

We’re all looking forward and we’re fully focused on it. So why oh why would we call such a thing ‘a retreat’?

But let’s put the multiple meanings of some English words aside for the moment and ….. surprise surprise, let’s look forward (with a bit of an eye on the rear mirror too).

I wrote recently that “????????????????????????, ????????????????????, ?????????? and ???????????? are (particularly now) the real building blocks of a great business.”

Let’s start (as our heading today suggests) with ????????????????????????.

It is surely crucial. And it just this minute dawned on me that ‘authenticity’ is usually referencing two things. For example: ‘Tell it like it is,’ or even better ‘Walk your Talk’ or perhaps more simply ‘Do what you say you’ll do.’

That last one is especially important now because more and more companies stand accused of “purpose-washing” or greenwashing.

The companies that are truly “walking the talk” will be able to demonstrate their impact — impact you can measure, impact you can see and feel.

Moving forward authentically means that companies will need to (make that ‘must’) provide evidence of their impact. Chris Noble, CEO of the brand purpose agency Matchfire made this point recently: “Companies that win in 2025 will find a way to execute their purpose that's practical, without being preachy, placing a growing emphasis on robust metrics and reporting frameworks to track progress, measure impact, and demonstrate accountability — across both social and environmental spheres,”

I see that as moving way beyond being ‘purpose-driven’ to being fully impact-driven. And not to put too fine a point on it or to offend (although sometimes being authentic does do that) maybe Matchfire might move authentically forward and re-brand itself as ‘the brand-IMPACT agency’.

Purpose really is pointless if it’s a marketing exercise versus a measurable exercise.

In these past 20 years or so, becoming ‘purpose-driven’ has surely become the most used two word hyphenated phrase in Leadership articles. Maybe it's time we could all move authentically forward now to becoming Impact-Driven.

And maybe we could begin that by setting measurable impact goals in tandem with revenue and profit goals too. Now that really would be moving authentically forward..