If you think your purpose is to make more money, you haven’t discovered it yet.
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When I ask business leaders to tell me their company’s purpose, the most common response is “Our purpose is to be more profitable.” That’s not your company’s purpose. That’s simply a universal goal of commerce.
When I tell them it’s not about the money, they usually ponder and say, “Umm… to make our customers happy?” Getting warmer! This is also a universal goal of commerce, and every company will make its customers happy—or unhappy—based on how well it implements its mission. But that’s not your purpose.
Finally, they sigh and say, “Well, I guess we don’t have a purpose.” Wrong! Your company does have a purpose, but sometimes it’s submerged in the collective corporate subconscious and needs to be brought into the light of awareness before it can become an inspiring force.
Your company purpose is your team’s collective raison d'être, or reason for being. It’s a bold declaration of what your company takes a stand for and why. It’s based in your company’s humble beginnings and it describes the ‘good fight’ you’re fighting in the quest to uphold your organization’s core values in this world.
Your purpose is communicated in a short, powerful statement. But you can’t simply pay a writer to put together some lofty words. It must be culled out of the hearts and minds of your organization.
At creo, we facilitate sessions that help organizations peel back the layers of the onion to get to the core of why their work is meaningful and how they want it to positively impact their stakeholders, customers, employees and the world at large. You know when you’re getting close when you begin to feel inspired by something larger and more significant than where your organization stands today. Then we distill that inspiration into a clear statement that should rarely, if ever, change.
Purpose is essential because it’s a guiding north star behind everything your company does. It inspires public sentiment and invigorates your culture with positive morale. It ignites your customers’ passion and loyalty because they see that your company is up to more meaningful things than just selling stuff. It enhances every aspect of your organization for the long-term.
If your organization doesn’t have a purpose, it will require effort to define one because company leaders across the the company need to be involved. They often avoid it or manage it as a ‘check the box’ task. For more on that, read The Two Dirty Secrets About Company Purpose.
But if you can rally company leaders to roll up their sleeves and do the work, discovering and declaring your company’s purpose may be the most important thing you’ll ever do to ensure not only your organization’s success but also its positive impact on the world.
Do you work for a purpose-driven organization? If so, how has it helped? If not, do you believe your organization would benefit from defining its purpose or not? We’d love to hear about your experiences with organizational purpose.
