Today I saw someone driving a construction truck of a well know firm dangerously cut-off a number of other drivers in a busy roundabout. When drivers hooted to make him aware so he didn’t drive into them, he aggressively gesticulated his annoyance. And if the hand gestures weren’t enough, he exercised his vocal chords just to make sure.
Now the brand of the construction company was proudly displayed all over the vehicle. Out of interest, I had a look at their website. On the homepage, the company asserts that ‘it cares’ about people, clients and community, which includes ‘putting health, safety and wellbeing above everything else’.
You can see where this has gone wrong, can’t you!
And it got me thinking – why is it that so often we see such a gulf between company statements of intent (purpose and values) and the delivery of these on the ground.
I think it starts with just how difficult it is to clearly articulate a genuine business purpose. In other words, to honestly answer the question, ‘Why do we exist?’
Nearly all the leaders that I work with agree that when purpose is well articulated, it becomes a reminder of what matters most, providing clarity to everyone in the business about how to act, how to make the correct decisions and how to focus amid the noise of daily competing demands.
But to articulate the purpose of a business is really difficult. It often ends up in a slogan or a series of statements that sound great, but when someone asks, ‘Why did you choose that?’ or ‘What does that mean?’ people in the business really struggle to explain it, let alone understand how it actually aligns with why the company exists.
So I asked Bard (Google’s AI) about this and it delivered these three purpose statements that I think are so accurate that they and are lived out in the products they produce, the services they offer and the commercial success they all share:
- Apple: “To create the best products and services for our customers, and to leave the world better than we found it.”
- Google: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
- TOMS Shoes: “To improve the lives of children around the world with every pair of shoes we sell.”
What makes these statements so good? Well, firstly they address a clear customer need or problem that needs solving. Secondly, the companies are in the unique position to fulfil the promises contained in the statement. And thirdly, they’re commercial – there is a direct connection between the stated purpose and what the company does to earn revenue.
So, using the above guidelines, here are three ways to build a purpose that inspires, motivates, clarifies accepted behaviours, enables good decision-making making and causes the company to create real value:
- Purpose is a strategy. It’s what the organisation does and how it does it. Purpose is defined by the leaders by asking ’Why do we exist?’. It’s beyond making money which is an outcome. So strategy begins with purpose – ask yourself ‘why?’ and build from there.
- Purpose should support the business’ revenue goals. Companies that exist for reasons beyond ‘just making money’ are those that have a positive impact on the people they engage with, making things better. A purpose is truly effective when it bridges the link between team, customers, investors and profitability. In other words, it should be the guide to what the company actually produces and not the other way around. Google really are effective at monetising the organisation of the world’s information, but remember, they started organising it before commercialising it.
- Purpose should be built around what the company is truly good at and what differentiates it. Apple produce beautiful, user-friendly products that have changed the way we work. This aligns clearly with their purpose and I’m in no doubt is one of the reasons it is currently the world’s second most valuable brand valued in excess of US$297.5 billion.
