The Purpose Gap; making agility reality

The Purpose Gapmaking agility reality

Tool 1: Becoming a leader of clarity

Purpose has the potential to change the world

Imagine if organisations all over the world really started to prioritise purpose over profit How amazing that would be

and it’s already happening..

Let’s start with what we know..

Purpose beats profit

• Purpose-led organisations (and purpose-led teams) out-perform profit-led organisations on every metric .

• Purpose-led organisations (and purpose-led teams) out-perform profit-led organisations on every metric .

• “Meaningful brands connected to purpose outperformed stockmarket peers by 120%”Source: Havas Meaningful Brand Index 2014

• Purpose-led organisations (and purpose-led teams) out-perform profit-led organisations on every metric

• “89% of customers think purpose-led companies deliver better products & services”


• “a strong and well communicated corporate purpose can impact financial performance by up to 17%” (5 year RoI) Burson-Marstellar and IMD Business School


• “purpose driven brands are growing ahead of the market .. accounted for half our growth in 2014 and grew at twice the rate of the rest of the business”. Paul Polman CEO, Unilever


• “87% of business leaders believe that companies perform best over time if their purpose goes beyond profit”

Convinced?..

More facts?..

• 77% of interviewees joined their current employer partially because of the company’s sense of purpose Deloitte

• 62% of millennials want to work for an organisation that benefits society. 50% would sacrifice salary for meaning Global Tolerance

• People are 40% more engaged, 70% more satisfied, 300% more likely to stay 12% more productive in purpose-led companies University of Warwick & The Energy Project 2013

So, genuinely purpose-led companies: recruit and retain talent, delight customers, make more money - and are worth more...

And this is not a fringe belief anymore.. Purpose is the new business orthodoxy..

“Answering why your organization exists and transforming through your purpose is the key to success in business in the 21st century” Ernst & Young

In 2014, Cranfield School of Management conducted a survey of European CEOs and future leaders..

88% of CEOs and 90% of future leaders stated that a business must have a social purpose.

Fantastic!

But..

But..

Only 37% of these CEOs say their business strategy is actually aligned with their purpose

Most corporate organisations will utterly fail to convert purpose to meaningful change ..

In corporate organisations there is a gaping chasm between the Purpose articulated by the Board and the reality experienced by people in the organisation

What is purpose supposed to deliver?

Purpose

Staff Capability

Cultural Capability

Management Capability

Customer satisfaction

Shareholder Value

Purpose

AlignedAutonomousEngagedEmpatheticOpenInnovativeVelocityClarity Agility

Staff Capability

Cultural Capability


In corporate organisations there is a gaping chasm between the Purpose articulated by the Board and the reality experienced by people in the organisation

Purpose


Staff Capability

Cultural Capability


GA

P

This GAP doesn’t happen in agile, entrepreneurial organisations..

What can we learn from entrepreneurs..?

In agile, entrepreneurial organisations three critical beliefs bridge the gap between Purpose and Experience:

• Ownership• Trust• Context

These beliefs are rare in large corporate organisations

• Ownership Heirachi• Trust Control (fear)• Context (why) Content (how)


Ownership

Trust

Context

MisalignedDirectedDisengagedFormulaicClosedFearfulLethargicMuddled Slow to react

Heirachi

Control (fear)

Content

• Ownership• Trust• Context

1. Context

• Context: Becoming a leader of clarity

• the most powerful leadership tool and the secret to making purpose a reality in your team, division or organisation

• The source of agility, velocity and clarity.

• Context: Becoming a leader of clarity

• the most powerful leadership tool and the secret to marking purpose a reality in your team, division or organisation

• The source of agility, velocity and clarity.

• So, what is context..?

Context. kɒntɛkst. noun. ‘the circumstances that form the setting for an idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood or clarify its meaning’.

Simply:• What gives meaning• The wood from the trees

Purpose gives meaning

Purpose is WHY

Purpose is Context

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders.

Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Use Purpose to manage in context not control..

How does the Purpose of the organisation (articulated by the Board) provide context for your team?

How can you interpret that context to be relevant and inspiring to your team?

To help people live well and die old Innocent

To make sustainable living commonplace Unilever

To put a ding in the universe Apple

To give people the freedom to be extraordinary Onefish2fish

We believe an outdoor life is a life well lived REI

To create opportunities for everyone to be brilliant at work Chemistry To create the future with our clients AKQA

Enable businesses to thrive and economies to prosper, helping people fulfil their hopes and dreams HSBC

“when you are tempted to control your people ask yourself what context you could set instead. Are you articulate and inspiring enough about goals and strategies?” Reed Hastings, CEO Netflix

Purpose is ContextContext is not always purpose..

“The best managers figure out how to get great outcomes by setting the appropriate context rather than trying to control their people” Reed Hastings.

Context is clarity..• What ONE WORD gives meaning

to..• My role..• Me

Context is clarity..• What is my context – what is my

Purpose.. what is my WHY?

• Your purpose gives you drive

“high-performance people will do better work if they understand the context” Reed Hastings.

How aligned is my personal purpose (my context) with the purpose of my organisation

Do I feel inspired

As a leader, how can I inspire others

Let’s end with what we know ..

• Purpose leads profit

• Purpose leads profit• But.. there’s often a

yawning gap between purpose and reality

• Purpose leads profit• But.. there’s often a

yawning gap between purpose and reality

• Good leaders understand how to bridge that gap by understanding context

• Context creates meaning & clarity


• Purpose is context – how can I interpret our Purpose for my team?



• Context is not always purpose – how can I manage in context not control?



• Context is not always purpose – how can I manage in context not control?

• What ONE WORD gives meaning to..

• What is my personal context?

• What is my personal context?• How aligned is that purpose

with my organisation’s?

• What is my personal context?• How aligned is that purpose

with my organisation’s?• Am I ‘articulate and inspiring

enough about our goals and strategies’?

Join the debate.. www.contexis.com

@jroslingLook out for our next Webinar on bridging the Purpose Gap through building a belief in OWNERSHIP.

Leadership & Management

The Purpose Gap; making agility reality