Have you ever stopped to consider what drives you? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What gives you motivation and inspiration to keep on going in the face of adversity? The answer to the question is purpose. The reason why you do what you do. And this is why everything in business starts and ends with purpose. If as leaders we don’t define the purpose for the business, then the business is like a rudderless ship. It has no direction, no GPS, and team members don’t know what is happening.
Purpose gives team members a shared vision. It unites the team behind a single cause. It brings clarity and certainty. It helps define the values for the business, as they need to be aligned with the purpose. And business values help decision making as they provide a framework that identifies which activities you will pursue. If following an opportunity or undertaking an activity conflicts with your values then it is easy to say No, as that action is out of alignment with what you stand for.
Purpose stands at the core of everything that we do in business and right now there is a growing trend, as companies become more consciously aware, for them to become purpose-driven. Purpose is being put clearly front and centre of everything a company does. And let’s be clear, the purpose is not self-serving, for example, to make more profits. That’s not motivating to anyone. Companies focusing on becoming purpose led are recognizing that business is a force for good and are focusing on how the business impacts and contributes to society generally.
An example of a company with a great purpose is Whole Foods. Their purpose, which they call their declaration of independence is clearly written on their website and pervades everything they do.
It states: Whole Foods Market is a dynamic leader in the quality food business. We are a mission-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food retailers. We are building a business in which high standards permeate all aspects of our company. Quality is a state of mind at Whole Foods Market.
Our motto — Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet — emphasizes that our vision reaches far beyond just being a food retailer. Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer satisfaction, team member happiness and excellence, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of the environment and local and larger community support.
Our ability to instill a clear sense of interdependence among our various stakeholders (the people who are interested and benefit from the success of our company) is contingent upon our efforts to communicate more often, more openly, and more compassionately. Better communication equals better understanding and more trust.”
When you read this purpose statement you can’t help but feel inspired. It’s clear about what the company does, the change it is wanting to make in the world and how team members contribute to this. This purpose provides clarity, direction, focus and inspiration. As a team member you immediately know what is expected of you. A clear purpose is the fuel that ignites superior performance and delivers greater productivity and ironically profitability, as everyone is moving towards the same vision in a unified way and the business gets into a state of alignment which creates massive flow,
The leaders have clearly stated what needs to happen in the business and why. That’s why “leadership begins and ends with purpose. Everything in between is management”
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and if you need any help defining the purpose for your business or just want to connect with me to discuss how purpose-driven companies are making a real difference, then I’d love to hear from you. Simply book a conversation with me here.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
