#5 How to Win Hearts & Minds

If your company ceased to exist, would anyone care?

Why do your employees turn up to work every day?

An effective purpose statement has five key components. Getting this right is the first step to inspiring your team, attracting high value partners, and finding the synergies between purpose and profit.

4 min read

When people unite behind a shared sense of purpose, magic happens.

You'll all know the story of when President Kennedy bumped into a janitor whilst on a visit to NASA at the height of the 1960s space race.

(If not, there’s a quick summary in this video)

This may be a famous and poetic example, but any organisation can be transformed by creating a shared sense of purpose.

The first step to achieving this is to define an effective purpose statement.

The SABRE Framework

Following a detailed analysis of purpose statements from leading organisations around the world, Harvard Business Review developed the SABRE framework, which identifies five essential components of an effective purpose statement.

Societal problem being addressed

The foundation of any purpose statement is an explicit reference to the specific, pressing human, societal, or environmental problem(s) the organisation seeks to address or alleviate.

Tesla's purpose statement for example is:

To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

Whereas General Motors’ stated purpose is:

To earn customers for life.

It fails to identify a societal problem - and, frankly, fails to inspire.

Authentic

Make sure you can keep your promises.  Is the purpose statement an accurate reflection of your true priorities and actions?  If not, trust can erode quickly, especially with employees.

Authenticity is dynamic, it must be maintained.  Ensure that actions do not drift from the purpose over time.  

Note the infamous example of Volkswagen, which committed to delivering sustainable cars for a better future, but was subsequently found to have tampered with emissions testing.

Believable

Keep the statement within the bounds of what your organisation could realistically achieve.

Think about whether it is possible to measure progress towards the stated purpose.

And avoid being grandiose or vague.  

Coca-Cola's purpose statement fails on many counts...

To refresh the world, to inspire moments of optimism and happiness, creating a positive impact in the world.

To start with, it seeks to have a 'positive impact' without any reference to what that might be.

But worse is how this differs to the reality:

Coca-Cola has been cited as the world's worst plastic polluter for six years running.

And its products are damaging to health, with clear links to increased rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

So it is difficult to believe any statement about positive impact on the world.

Relevant to beneficiaries

The statement should have a clear indication of who/what will benefit from the purpose.

Without this, the purpose is abstract and will be difficult for people to feel a true connection with it.

Mars’ statement fails to clarify who in particular will benefit from the company’s products:

The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.

Whereas Tony's Chocolonely clearly identifies the cocoa famers that are often exploited in the chocolate industry:

We exist to make 100% slave-free the norm in chocolate.

Engaging

Finally, your purpose statement should be engaging and inspiring.

The best ones appeal to the heart and the mind.

Keep it succinct and make it memorable.

A great example is Patagonia:

We're in business to save our home planet.

Next steps

1. Reflect on Your Company’s Core Values and Goals: consider what your company stands for and what it aims to achieve beyond profits.

2. Use the SABRE Framework to Draft Your Purpose Statement: making it a collaborative effort helps get buy-in from across the business.

3. Test and Refine: get feedback and make adjustments to ensure the purpose statement resonates and inspires.

Rediscovering Purpose is the first step in the 'Purpose x Profit' methodology from Towards Better.

It includes a guided journey of inward reflection, exploring your personal values and purpose — and how they intertwine with those of your company — through nine activities, requiring just 10 mins per day.

We then build leadership team alignment around a newly defined purpose statement during a facilitated workshop.

Please get in touch if you'd like to find out more.

A sneak peek at next week...

What is there to be gained from being a purpose-led company?

These companies enjoy a range of significant benefits, giving them an unfair advantage over their peers.

Next week we will explore these in detail - and examine how these advantages can be realised with some case studies and practical examples.

More on this next week...

The journey towards a better way of doing business

We are on the cusp of a new paradigm of responsible business, and helping impactful companies pair purpose with profit will accelerate the shift.

I believe this holds the key to solving many of our greatest challenges and inspiring positive change throughout society.

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