The power of purpose: passion meets performance!

“I am running to make history, to show that no human is limited. It’s not about money, it’s about showing a generation of people that there are no limits.” ?(Eliud Kipchoge)

From Vienna to Kenya and around the globe: millions of people witnessed Eliud Kipchoge running a marathon (42.195 km) successfully under 2 hours. In case you are or know a (marathon) runner, you probably know what it takes to train for and finish a marathon well. 

You also might have heard or read that this historic achievement was fueled by Eliud Kipchoge’s mental strength which included “bouncebackability” (as defined by the Olympic rowing champion Ben Hunt-Davis), determination, focus and… purpose. Yes, some people might argue that his record was enabled by lab-like conditions, a huge team of experts across various professions plus his top-notch pacemakers.

Despite these circumstances: Eliud Kipchoge’s awareness of the power of purpose and its importance for achieving his goal were crucial. He did want to make history and will remain the first person who ran a marathon under 2 hours. This required him to be clear about his purpose, which - for him- was more than this historic and athletically remarkable record.  

He strived to show “everybody” that it is possible to reach goals, even those nobody has attained before. Another important aspect of a purpose-driven team emerged whenever his pacemakers and sparring partners came into play. They all had to truly share Eliud Kipchoge’s purpose to succeed together with him. In return, they would - and eventually did - experience their own ability and personal power of purpose.

This did not happen “overnight”. It evolved out of a failed attempt to “break” the 2 hour mark in 2017. Eliud Kipchoge missed it by 25 seconds. Instead of calling it quits, he was convinced that he was very close to setting the record. The rest is history.

What does this mean for businesses, their leadership, teams and individuals?  

Start

Especially during challenging times or when (business) life throws us a curveball, it can be tempting to turn away from our (business’) purpose. Still, such unexpected situations can bear the potential for new beginnings or even an opportunity to rise to the challenge and grow. 

Whether we find ourselves amongst one of the groups cited in this survey by McKinsey & Company: 

or whether we benefit from current circumstances: We need to be clear for what we, our teams and organizations are bundling our focus, collaboration and effort.

Ideally, corporate founders consider this early when building their business. In the latter case, this will help them to establish the purpose-driven trait at the beginning. This requires a significant and meaningful investment of time and energy. If done right, the leaders will be able to connect the entire organization through a shared purpose. In any case, building a purposeful organization is beneficial to a corporate culture. Especially, the more the leadership engages with “purpose agents” among the employees. They are likely to ensure that an organization’s purpose and culture is passed on to (new) staff. 

Hence, this unique “DNA” may have better chances to prevail even as the company grows in numbers and sites. Regardless of its employees’ role and geographical location within the organization: a clear understanding of the purpose and impact of their work will be advantageous to the company, its customers and other stakeholders. 

 Even though this is not new or surprising to many, certain companies and organizations are still struggling to get this “right”. Regardless of their age group, the number of people that will settle for one particular “reward”, is decreasing. A lot of employees no longer want to choose between a great career, a close-knit community or a meaningful cause. Instead they long for a well-balanced mix as the following survey shows. 

While the chart represents the results of the workforce at Facebook, Harvard Business Review confirmed similar findings in a nationally representative study of Americans across generations. Again, Millennials, Baby Boomers, and Gen Xers had the same core work values and tended to rank them in the same order of importance. It also found that Millennials want essentially the same things as members of older generations.

Other interesting results include that no major differences by level, or by performance reviews could be identified regarding the above-mentioned aspects. People value these three motivators whether they were exceeding, meeting, or falling short of expectations. Equally, the comparison by office location confirmed that career, community, and cause were all cherished around the globe. Luckily, this is not entirely a matter of having millions or a large company.

Build

Smaller companies can champion the essentials of a purpose-driven company and even beat “older” or better known organizations as “best place to work”.

For example, digitalsee, a mid-sized company offering IT-services, did and does this successfully. Its founders want/ed it to become the company that they would have loved to work for. This desire also included a critical evaluation of their previous (professional) experience and a clear understanding of their new company’s purpose. One that shall be much more than a nicely framed statement on a wall. 

Of course, there is no “one fits all” solution for that. Instead, coming up with a “sense of direction” that supports a company’s purpose might be a good start. This by no means suggests running around (or rather running a business) without clarity. On the contrary! This approach is about providing a “framework” (e.g. legal requirements, ethical behavior, specifications for major (budgetary) decisions, company values) within which employees can act in their company’s best interest.

One way to encourage that is allowing as much freedom as possible whilst making team members or employees accountable for their actions and results. Ideally this trust and flexibility translates into assuming responsibility and appropriate self-management. 

Additionally, purpose-driven organizations create an environment that encourages fast decision-making and continuous improvement instead of (administrative) processes that slow them down. Having said that, they do determine guiding principles which - as mentioned above - are in line with the organization’s purpose and culture. Even during volatile times which require flexibility and agility.

Again, this is something the people working at digitalsee were and still are able to do successfully. Not only but also due to a well-balanced mix of alignment and independence while keeping the company’s purpose, its business as well as its customers’ interests in mind. 

What else helps a purpose- driven organization to do well in the long run? We will address more aspects in future articles here on LinkedIn.

Until then, we welcome your comments on your “purpose-driven work experience”! What purpose makes you thrive? How did you discover it? We look forward to your comments or messages here on LinkedIn!

Martina Hofer Moreno and Katharina Janauschek

#newwork #digitalization #itprojectmanagement #hr #team #management #corporateculture #culturebeatsstrategy #leadership #hrmanager #hrbusinesspartner #change #chance #learning #people #purpose

? & photo credits: 

cover photo: https://sprungkraft.consulting/

* Eliud Kipchoge Foto: Mike Boyd,12.10.2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A73HQwEct-o

* Forrest: Norexy_art: pixabay.com

* Compass: Jaime Street: unsplash.com

* Stones: Martin Sanchez: unsplash.com