LEADERSHIP
Two Things People Get Wrong About Purpose By Lisa Earle McLeod
All the cool kids have purpose. Or so it seems. As more organizations begin to adopt corporate purpose statements,
we see announcements on social media, a push for purpose-driven hiring, and CEOs deliver inspirational townhalls.
Yet for many front-line leaders, keeping an aspirational purpose alive in the cadence of daily business is challenging. Much like keeping your fitness goals or parenting aspirations front and center during a pandemic, an inspirational purpose sounds great on your best day, but in the face of stress and uncertainty, it often falls by the wayside. The economics of pointing an organization towards a higher purpose have been well documented. Aligning your team around a noble purpose bigger than money 34
February 2021
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drives greater employee engagement, better customer retention, and improved competitive differentiation, all of which translate into better financial performance. After working in the purpose space for over decade, helping more than 200 firms and authoring the two seminal books about Noble Purpose in business, I’ve observed two common misperceptions that keep organizations from reaping financial and emotional rewards of purpose.
