“It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?”
I love this quote from Thoreau because it drives home the fact that purpose is an immensely powerful force in our lives, our teams, and our organizations. (Nothing against the ants, of course!)
When purpose is clearly articulated, we are constantly reminded why we are here and what we are supposed to be doing.
Purpose provides cohesion and direction, but creating a clear, understandable statement of purpose is more challenging than you might think. Yet it’s something that, as leaders, we must do. Naming purpose provides clarity and aligns everyone on every level. Once the purpose is clearly stated, the entire team views their decisions and actions through the lens of fulfilling their purpose, rather than episodic actions or choices. This is especially helpful when members feel a need to defend their territory or are acting from self-interest. Purpose is the North Star that brings us back to our core values, deepens team leadership, and impacts the organization’s work substantially.
In my work, I’ve often asked leadership teams to explain their purpose as an organization. It’s not uncommon for these high performers to confuse purpose with mission. It’s a distinction that needs to be made clear if purpose is to gain its full power within teams, organizations, and communities.
The difference between mission and purpose
A mission statement is an explanation of what the organization does. It’s a one-way communication. There is no relationship between the organization and the larger community in a mission. Rather, it’s an articulation for others to read to understand what the organization intends to accomplish.
Purpose is different. Purpose is found in the space between people and organizations, which means at its core, it’s relational. When a leadership team seeks purpose, they articulate what they intend to bring to the organization that serves the needs that arise as team members work together on achieving their mission. When employees understand and lean into their organizational purpose, they stop sleepwalking and become much more engaged, active thinkers.
I suspect we can all remember times when we were asked to do something that seemed to have no purpose or meaning. It rarely brings out our best work.
I’ve observed in my work that leaders who know meaningful work brings out their staff’s best qualities run the most successful teams and organizations.
The power of purpose
Without purpose, positional leaders engage more often in actions and behaviors that diminish trust, meaning, and productivity. When the organization lacks purpose, leaders and executive teams become driven by ego and power. Turf wars are tolerated, and internal competition is encouraged. We often see more examples of micromanagement at the level of positional leadership, and there’s rarely pushback. Unfortunately, this comes at an enormous cost to the organization, its performance, and its people.
Conversely, when purpose is clear and well-articulated, the entire focus of the leadership team changes, almost automatically. Better, more regenerative measurements are created. Relationships are strengthened within the organization as purpose fuels the impact of those deeper connections.
Simple questions to define purpose
In my journey to help teams find their organizational purpose, I frame purpose in a way that helps leaders more clearly identify it by posing a couple of simple questions:
- What is the deepest need your staff and your organization have that you, as a leadership team, can fulfill?
- What is the deepest need in your community (or society) that the organization is uniquely suited to meet?
The answers to these questions unveil the internal and external purpose of the leadership team and its organization. Once articulated in this way, purpose shapes everyone’s behavior by defining what’s acceptable—and what’s not. In this way, purpose is not “fluff.” It’s the fuel that drives our actions, and our performance as individuals and collectively.
