What's the purpose of purpose, for you?

What is the purpose of purpose?

Graham, Jamie, and I recently discussed this question - in our meandering, exploratory way - and looked at it from a few different angles.

My takeaways from that conversation? Purpose is hard to pin down. Often, elements of what an organisation says it stands for are externally imposed. Purpose mutated into marketing.

This happens when founders, and the leaders who come after them can’t, won’t or simply haven’t authentically communicated the real purpose of their organisation. It’s simply unpalatable to say “AcmeCo exists to make the founders rich, exploit cheap labour, and pay as little tax as possible” - even if that’s authentically true.

So instead, AcmeCo says “Our mission is to serve our customers, our colleagues, and our communities for the good of all”, or various flavours of that.

There was a well known healthy drinks start-up that sold to a big global corporate a few years ago. The deal was structured in two parts - an initial investment, followed by an earn-out over 3 years. The earn-out was dependent on hitting certain profit targets.

How did the founders deal with that?

They sat the team down and honestly told them what their purpose was during that earn-out period: to hit the profit targets, and get the full earn-out payment so they could share it with the team. Purely financial, but a purpose none the less. And, authentically shared, it motivated the team - even the office manager was bulk-buying tea bags in year 1 so he could spend less in year 3 and maximise profit.

That sort of thing can work for a short time period, and for certain types of people. To really unlock the value of purpose, IMO, takes more.

Aligning organisational and individual purpose

There is a real motivational tailwind for organisations that are able to tightly define their purpose in a meaningful way and help their team members understand how their individual purpose fits in.

One theory of motivation is Self-Determination Theory. This states that motivation is a function of Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence.

Autonomy and Relatedness are the key words when it comes to purpose. For individuals in your team to be motivated, according to Self-Determination Theory, they must be able to make autonomous choices about the work that they do and how they do it. They must also feel a level of relation to their co-workers, to have that sense of a shared direction of travel.

What does that all mean?

For me, the key is to enable and encourage alignment between the organisational purpose and the purpose that each individual has for themselves. That means that leaders must take responsibility for setting the guardrails. You must define the boundaries within which the organisations purpose (and the second order effect of that - commercial strategy) will be deemed to be achieved.

The link between purpose and strategy is a critical step. If leaders can’t articulate the purpose of their business and how the strategy helps achieve that then it’s a fair bet that the ‘purpose’ is more marketing than mission.

With those things clearly articulated you can define the capabilities the team needs, and the right talent and individual skills that will be required to turn the strategy into reality.

All of that sets the foundation for an individual to ask: “So, where do I fit in?”. And forward-thinking organisations will say “Anywhere you like, within this system”.

That enables Autonomy. Freedom of choice for your own path that is aligned with the organisation and what it’s trying to achieve. It also engenders a shared direction of travel - that’s Relatedness in Self-Determination Theory.

Can’t find a path in your business that aligns with your personal purpose in life? That’s perfectly fine. It just means this place isn’t a great fit for you right now - useful data to be aware of and consider as you make your career plans.

As a leader the practical steps here are clear:

1. Ensure your strategy is clearly linked to your organisational purpose, and understood by your team

2. Be clear about the set of capabilities that your strategy demands

3. Within those boundaries, help your team explore the focus areas and career path that most motivates them

4. If people aren’t aligned, then wish them well when they move on

Above all: strive to be authentic about the real purpose of the business. People can’t align to something you’re hiding from them, and hidden things have a tendency to emerge when pressure builds.