Is Your Organization Focused on What Matters Most?

For a primer on how I see Purpose and its potential to unlock new growth, check out my previous post 'Purpose Needs to Grow Up' (link in the comments).

Today I’d love to share some thoughts around the idea of Purpose as a driver of organizational focus. Let me say upfront that this is NOT a political statement. This is an attempt at observing the effects of the current environment on organizations, and some thoughts on what leaders may be able to do to keep their decision making sound, their people sane, and their organizations aligned.

The world feels chaotic. Uncertainty reigns. The news cycle is spinning out of control, and people can’t keep up with the velocity of ‘breaking news’. This is bad for everyone's mental health of course, but it’s also detrimental to what I would argue is one of the most precious commodities in corporate life, especially in larger organizations: the shared focus on what matters most.

If we define ‘what matters’ as what is both important to the organization AND what can be impacted or influenced by its actions, then trying to track all the rapid shifts, from the back and forth on tariffs, the turmoil in government institutions or the plot twists of the TikTok ban, is not a good use of energy. Of course, some of these changes matter to the business, but more often than not, they present a massive distraction from what really deserves an organization’s attention.

A Distracted Organization Cannot Grow?

Many of the shifts we are seeing are of great importance on a societal level, and participating in the civic duty of political discourse is vital for people in their roles as citizens, but there is such as thing as an organizational attention span, and every minute spent on the ever accelerating news cycle, is a minute less spent on what your organization can do to create value for people, planet and the bottom line in this new world.?

Is Your North Star clear??

If you want to get a quick temperature-check on this for yourself and your organization, here are a couple of questions to ask yourself as a leader:

• Is there a shared story across your organization about the future you want to help create (what I would call Vision)??
• Are people in your company focused on creating value by leveraging your organization’s or brand’s unique capabilities (or ‘Superpowers’) to solve a specific challenge or unmet need in society (what I would call Purpose)?
• Is everyone contributing their unique talents and passions to a shared definition of what the organization needs to achieve (what I would call Mission)?
• Are leaders and their teams aware of what behaviors are expected in service to these ambitions (what I would call Values)?
• Are you creating an environment where everyone can apply their best selves to what matters most to the organization (what I would call Culture)?

If your answer to some or all of these questions is “no”, “not sure” or “maybe”, it’s probably a good idea to recreate the center of attention and reclaim the focus of your organization on what really matters.?

Depending on the specific situation and history of your organization, what really matters may already exist in the form of your Purpose, Vision, Mission or Values. In some cases, these ideas may need to be pressure-tested, re-articulated for more clarity and emotional impact, or they may have to be developed in the first place (fear not, this can be done!)?

For now, let’s use the term Purpose as a stand-in for what matters most to your organization in the long term. I have always subscribed to the following definition of Purpose as a powerful driver of business: “A higher order reason for a company’s or brand’s existence that can drive growth and profitability by adding value to society."

I think this definition is important, because it clarifies that Purpose isn’t charity - it’s a powerful way to grow through creating new value for society in a way that is unique to your organization.

The Organizational Equivalent of Focussing on Your Breath?

If you have ever meditated, you know that the idea is to create a singular focus on the breath, in order to calm down the barrage of ruminating thoughts that so often obscure true insight, sound judgement, and as a result, focused action.?

I believe that in times like these, Purpose can be the organizational equivalent of the breath, and that it is an important (if not the most important) job of leaders to use it to tune out the noise, so everyone understands what is and isn’t important.?

Leadership's Triple Threat: Clarity, Meaning, and Focus

Done right, leaders unleash the power of a compelling Purpose narrative to achieve three things across their organization:

• Clarity: Defining what the organization is striving for and where it's headed.
• Meaning: Explaining why this ambition matters - to the world, to the company, and to its people.?
• Focus: Turning clarity and meaning into focused actions that are designed to achieve these ideals, even amidst distractions, disruptions and a challenging environment.

Drowning Out the Noise by Creating a New Surround Sound?

To achieve clarity, meaning and focus through a compelling Purpose narrative, three key steps are important:

1. Create a powerful internal moment for the senior leadership team to remind the organization of what matters most. This can be a town hall meeting or another event where leaders and employees come together.
2. Make sure leaders at all levels are informed, inspired and empowered to tell the Purpose story in their own ways in their day-to-day work, and adhere to leadership principles and behaviors that are consistent with it.?
3. Then, over time, the entire end-to-end employee experience and all employee touch points should be leveraged to tell the story.

I have been fortunate enough to lead this type of work for organizations such as Sephora, Gap Inc., Mattel, and others, and my experience is that there is always a way to galvanize, energize and focus an organization on how to create new value for people, planet AND the business.??

The Bottom Line

No matter what industry you're in, uncertainty has never been more challenging. Now more than ever, leaders need a compass to guide their organizations through the storm and create clarity, meaning, and focus in a noisy world that is full of distractions. Purpose can provide a shared foundation for navigating this uncertainty, uniting your teams and inspiring them to focus on what matters most.