Leadership: The Value of Shared Purpose
Purpose is why we do what we do. I think it is the missing element in most organizations. Almost any organization can tell you it’s mission and vision, and a few can tell you their values, but I think those are almost worthless in their ability to drive the daily behavior of employees. Most of your employees can’t remember your elaborate mission and vision and even if they could, they can’t see themselves in it.
Purpose, on the other hand, is a powerful guide to daily behavior because purpose lives in the hearts and minds of those that serve the purpose. My purpose “to change your mind about the value of partnering with others to build healthy, responsible organizations where everyone can thrive” definitely drives my behavior. I can fit everything I do – all my missions – under my purpose.
But how you get to purpose is critical if you want it to be truly shared. Don’t take a walk in the woods with your senior leaders and some high-priced consultant some weekend and appear on a Monday morning to anoint your purpose from on high. That will be about as exciting to your employees as your mission statement. Engage your employees in dialogue and let the purpose arise from the relationship you have with them, the relationship they have with each other, and the relationship they have with your customers and suppliers.
I hope you take the time to watch the video! Listen for the cows in the background, especially toward the end. The big mountain in the distance over my shoulder and behind downtown Reno is Peavine Mountain. I live up there, and when you hear me say in a video that I am recording in Northwest Reno, I am somewhere up on “big brown.”
If you ever wondered by the colors of my website are brown, blue, white, and green, you should get an idea from the video.
Related Posts:
My Favorite Way To Think About Leadership: Part 2
The Fundamental Act of Leadership
About the Author: Bret L. Simmons
Welcome to my blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of my posts. I publish all constructive, non-anonymous comments. 
Bret, Great post. The last place where I worked, the issue in talking about that came when the leadership thought that talking about purpose, mission and vision is fluffy stuff. No wonder I’m out of there but is there any other solution to that?
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 7:39 am
No easy solution for management by idiot, Nitin. Both ends of the spectrum – thinking they are worthless and thinking they are a panacea – are both ineffective. Have to see them for their power – the potential to guide daily behavior – and then understand how to use them properly to try to achieve that. Thanks!! Bret
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I agree with Nitin, this is a great post, Bret. In fact, I would even say that your comments about the value of purpose over mission statements, corporate values and such is a light bulb moment, if not a forehead-slapping one.
Of course, I can see for many organizations the hurdle they see in their way is having to go to their team, their employees and ask them to help shape this purpose-statement out of fear that it would imply a loss of control or authority.
I know you pointed out Bret that employers should sit down with their employees to work on this, instead of opting for one of those weekend retreats. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how to go from getting leadership to buy into the notion of bringing employees into identifying the purpose to actually implementing it. I think your insights on that would be of tremendous help in putting this idea into practice.
Thanks again for sharing this light bulb moment.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
There is no easy, cookie-cutter answer to your question, Tanveer, which is exactly why the answer will be so meaningful and valuable. The process of getting the purpose will be as important as the final product. I think leadership should struggle with that question and not opt for the easy spoon fed consultant route. They and their employees will be better off for it. Thanks!! Bret
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Mariska Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
If your organization consists of political leaders (I use that term lightly)—change to purposeful behavior is of no interest to them, as they thrive on exclusion, hierarchy, and share information on a ‘need-to-know’ basis—generally divulged after-the-fact. Their ‘purpose’ consists of fulfilling their personal agenda—at all costs.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Welcome, Mariska! You are so correct that political types are usually driven by self-interest and not purpose. In my experience, there are a lot of the folks like the ones you describe in our organizations. We can only control our behavior so we have to choose a different path. Thanks for sharing! Bret
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Hi Bret, excellent post, although I don’t agree with you regarding a CORRECTLY written cultural mission statement like the one you’ll see here, http://www.leadershipturn.com/what-leaders-do-visions-of-culture-dance-in-their-heads/. A cultural mission statement is the embodiment of values and purpose; it’s also no longer than one page and preferably less.
Another reason to involve everybody is to make sure that people are on the same page, since the same word has different meanings to different people. A Harvard article several years ago (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5229.html) highlighted just how much trouble that can cause.
(I’m sorry I don’t hear well enough to enjoy the video.)
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Welcome, Miki! Thanks for pointing me to both those sources. I would encourage others to take a look as well. The problem with these statements is that leaders and the consultants they hire to help them develop the statements will look at each other, pat themselves on the back, and bask in the glow of their profound wisdom. But when it gets in the hands of employees, when leaders are not listening or looking, what they say to each other is…. Bullshit!
That’s why the process is more important than the product.
Thanks!!
Bret
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But Bret, you know that it is the positional leader who shows as the go-to person on any social network, sure as you know that Santa will bring you that new, giant flat screen you have our eye on and pigs can fly.
(BTW, it would be really nice if there was a way to subscribe to comments to know when a new one was posted, preferably not RSS. As an official dinosaur I like mine by email:)
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 2:32 am
Let me see what I can do about the comments – thanks for making me aware. As for the rest of your comment, sorry, I don’t get it! Thanks,
Bret
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Miki Saxon Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 2:44 am
Hey, I got the comment email.
To clarify, what I meant was that if you look at a social network diagram of a company the positional leaders are rarely the people that others turn to first. Those who believe otherwise probably also believe that pigs can fly.
I hope this is clearer.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Ok, got it. Thanks for the clarification! Bret
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