A Note On Purpose Led Business

Purpose is a journey without a destination. It is made up of two key parts: contribution and impact. Contribution is how we show up everyday to provide value for others. Key here is "value for others", for if it is "of value" it is inherently "valuable", and we can generate an exchange of value (specifically resources, eg. $, and/ or attention/ time). We often refer to them as our values, and behavioural expectations.

Be curious.

Promote fun.

Dig deep.

Challenge the status quo.

Be stable and conservative.

These are all examples of how we approach the world and the contribution we make to others. Our contributions, define the which daily activities of budgeting, product design, leadership and technical development, etc, etc, etc. we should focus upon. Identifying and organizing ourselves around what we do is how most business run themselves. And these contributions delivery an impact.

Impact is the so-what? It answers the questions: “what did we enable others to achieve?” It is about the benefit, utility and value our contributions enable. It is because of impact that a purpose is without a destination. Our contributions may change, by why we do them will not, as the impact can always be made more. 

When we shift our mindsets to “impact”, we illicit emotion, connection and engagement because it is about what we can do for others. We become customer-centric not in words, but in mind-set, and subsequently, behaviour. This is the heart of engagement, loyalty, advocacy and, yes, purchase behaviors. Purpose defines the clarity and execution of the experiences we want to deliver. Without it, we cannot identify impact, let alone work for it.

The best way to tap into emotions and impact, is through stories. They have been our preferred medium of communications since we lived in caves, and still today, remain the single best way to create connection, with our peers, leadership and community. Stories help us tap into moments of pride where we’ve lived our purpose and be honest about moments we have not. And, they start us down the path on behaving in ways that make those moments we have lived purpose, more common.