The Power of Purpose

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A company’s Purpose is the reason that a company exists. It defines an organisation’s aspirational reason for being, beyond profits — grounded in humanity. Unbridled Leaders understand this and are motivated by service to the company’s highest purpose whilst creating value for all the stakeholders. These leaders understand the interplay of all the elements and see the business as a whole rather than the sum of many parts. They understand the ecology of business and the interdependence of every facet, how one action impacts another.

A business without a purpose is like a rudderless ship. It has no direction as it doesn’t know where it is heading. It also doesn’t know what it stands for and how it wants to impact the world, so it can’t effectively communicate with its customers and stakeholders.

“If you have a purpose and can articulate it with clarity and passion, then everything makes sense, and everything flows.”

Roy Spence, Jr

An important point to make here, and one I see happening all too often, are companies that claim to have a clear purpose and values, but in reality it is just collateral stuck to the wall. If you asked team members what the values are they would not know. This is because the purpose and values are not embodied in the organisation. A new study Purpose Under Pressure reveals how true this is as it discovered that whilst 86% of companies had a stated Purpose, only 24% of those had fully activated and embodied it into their organisations.

Purpose Impacts Everything

True purpose and values impact everything a business does. They are imbued into the DNA of the organisation. Decisions ensure the company stays true to its values and purpose. Team members are clear on the direction of the business and the impact it is striving to make so team members can effectively contribute and align with these goals.

Businesses that just pretend to have a purpose and values for the sake of it are described as “greenwashing”. Eventually, stakeholders see through this as the actions of the business do not align with stated objectives. This leaves customers and team members disillusioned.

Unfortunately, the idea of becoming a purpose-driven or conscious company has become very popular in recent years, in part as a marketing differentiator and a way to attract new talent, but the reality is that unless the Purpose is embedded into every aspect of the business, it simply will not succeed and benefit from the significant financial results that purpose-driven companies continue to achieve.

"Purpose is not the sole pursuit of profits but the animating force for achieving them.” Larry Fink

Purpose: A Valuable Asset

No longer a nice to have, purpose has proved to be a valuable corporate asset for employee retention during unsettled moments like?the Great Resignation and the COVID-19 global health crisis. Indicators show more employees seek higher?Purpose out of their work now than in previous times – and they view Purpose as an indicator of business?performance and success that also helps protect organisations during challenging times.? .

• 91%?of employees say their company’s Purpose makes them feel like they are in the right place as we weather ongoing challenges, such as?the pandemic and economic risk.
• 88%?say they truly believe companies focused on Purpose will be more successful compared with those who are not.
• 84%?say the pandemic, economic uncertainty and social justice conversations of the past two years have made them think more about?how their work can have a positive or negative impact on society.

Furthermore, in the Purpose Under Pressure study team members stated that:

• 86%??believe having "meaning" in their work is more important to them than ever?
• 84%??will only work at Purpose-driven companies/brands
• 84%??feel more empowered than in the past to use their work as a force for good

so to say that purpose is some fad that companies can ignore misses the mark. In today's environment purpose matters. For companies it energises the system and allows the business to transcend the narrow concerns of individual stakeholders. It creates the vision which everyone lives by. When all the stakeholders are aligned around a common higher purpose, they are less likely to care only about their immediate, narrowly defined self-interest.

Having a higher purpose is the first step in creating an Unbridled Business – one where everyone involved understands the value it can bring to the larger community. The business purpose holds the organisation together and nourishes and encourages the team members and other stakeholders to excel. It can galvanise an organisation to achieve greatness.

Like a magnet, a business’s purpose attracts the right resources – team members, customers, suppliers and investors – to the business and aligns them. A compelling purpose reduces friction within the business eco-system as everyone is aligned and pointed in the same direction and is moving in harmony – just like a herd of horses.

Discover Your Unbridled Purpose

Next Steps:?If you'd like to discover how you are currently performing in business and how you score on embedding purpose into your business I encourage you to take the?Unbridled Business Blueprint??assessment, which you can find at:?https://www.unbridledbusiness.net/quiz. And then, you will know where to focus your efforts first in reinventing your business so that it is fit for purpose for today's environment

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Business leaders hire me when they are ready to throw out the rule book and reinvent their business by learning how to lead through uncertainty so that they can thrive in a complex, constantly changing environment. If you want to be the best leader you can be, or empower the most effective leadership teams within your organisation, then?subscribe?to this newsletter (do comment and share), check out my latest?book?-?Unbridled Business,?listen to my?podcast!?

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