To discover more about how self-awareness can help you and your organization be more purposeful, get in touch with us at Insights today.
To learn more about how to define and communicate your purpose with Natalie Pearce, visit The Future Kind Collective.
3. Use awareness to drive your purpose and achieve your goals - with Insights Discovery
2. Make purpose part of your recruitment strategy
1. Be authentic and communicate your purpose effectively
Everyone in your company deserves to have a sense of purpose for why they're there.
Natalie Pearce
Senior L&D consultant, Insights
Click the bubbles to read more >
How do organizations leverage the power of purpose to attract, build and retain teams during times of crisis and change?
Meaning and purpose are the bridges to which people who are going through adversity can build a better future for themselves.
Ian Faulder
Senior L&D consultant, Insights
Organizations that were able to flex during the pandemic – and continue to review their ‘why’ – are standing out.
“The companies that did well during Covid were those that had a clear sense of purpose and were able to pivot away from ordinary ways of working to something else,” Pearce says. “A good example were cafés whose purpose was about serving their local community that, despite not being able to open their doors and offer their usual service, switched to providing isolation care boxes instead.”
In this case, however, their purpose stayed the same – to serve the local community – they just found new ways to embrace it.
This is where differentiating your purpose from your ‘visions’ and ‘missions’ comes in, Pearce explains. While your purpose is your reason for being, your vision is the future you want to see and create; the image that inspires you. Your ‘mission’ is the job you need to undertake in order to get there (in short, your goals). Your mission can and often need to change, depending on the external environment, whereas your vision needs to stay consistent to keep you on track – the North Star that guides you and your people through difficult and changing times.
Even so, it’s good to “be open to new directions” Pearce says, and remember that key part of ikigai “what the world needs” (or for businesses “the human needs that you’re responding to”) – when reviewing your purpose.
The most successful organizations are those that not only react to change by flexing their services and taking on the most urgent missions, but those that can also progress their purpose to be in alignment with the most current (and future) world needs.
From engaging prospective employees through a strong vision, to keeping teams inspired and aligned through actionable goals, organizations that have a sense of purpose have not only navigated the pandemic better, but they are using it to pivot; reshaping their strategy to stay relevant and adaptable, while staying true to their core values.
While a resilient team and successful organization is one that is unified by a strong purpose, the other important thing to remember about resilience is that it requires you to be adaptable.
Though purpose is personal, it’s important to remember that it is not self-motivated. Purpose is not egotistical; it does not compete for space, seek validation, or fight to be heard. It’s not about achievement, it’s about direction: the current that sits beneath your actions, keeping you aligned with your values and driving you forward. It can create change quietly from within, or facilitate world impact one step, one person, one act at a time.
This makes it a powerful connector in the workplace, helping teams stay aligned.
“The beauty of having a purpose is that it helps you connect with other people better,” Pearce says. “The whole idea of finding your people is much more feasible when you know who you are, what you believe in and what you strive for.”
As a study by the University of Pennsylvania recently shared; when people had a greater sense of purpose they experienced less loneliness and made better lifestyle choices to protect their health in the face of Covid-19.
Pearce continues, “The research suggests that if you have a purpose in life then you’re more likely to be both physically and mentally well on a daily basis. Whether that purpose is large or small – having that sense of purpose is meant to inform our existence in ways that impact our physical and mental health and our overall wellbeing.”
As we become increasingly global purpose needs to be strong and succinct enough to translate across multiple teams and cultures, and to last. “Alignment is so vitally important for success,” Pearce says.
“If you have multiple purpose statements in an organization, that starts to dilute your message and dilute the story you’re telling your employees about the direction, and the mission and vision of the business and what we’re all striving towards … so make sure you have one and be really clear on it and then embed it across your teams, your processes and systems.”
It’s no wonder then, that a study published by Harvard Business Review found that purpose-driven companies benefitted from greater global expansion (66% compared with 48%).
The point about purpose is that you are never going to achieve it. It’s unachievable. You have goals beneath your purpose that help you live it or contribute to it, but you should never achieve your purpose – because what happens on the other side of that?
Natalie Pearce
What is purpose?
While we may think we know the answer, like many previously considered ‘soft skills’ pre-pandemic, purpose is often misinterpreted and underestimated.
“Purpose is essentially the reason that something exists,” Pearce explains, “and usually that is for reasons above monetary and individual gain.”
As Co-Founder of The Future Kind Collective, that helps companies to grow faster and more sustainably by defining their purpose, Pearce uses the Japanese concept of ‘ikigai’ – your ‘reason for being,’ often illustrated as a Venn diagram with four parts:
1. what you’re good at
2. what you love
3. what the world needs
4. how you drive value, to help people and businesses get clear on their purpose.
"The idea is that when you find something that sits perfectly at the intersection of these elements, you’ve found your purpose.”
The idea of purpose, once considered a ‘nice to have’, has emerged from the pandemic with renewed vigor and importance.
In today’s era of digitalization, disruption and the great resignation unending how and where we work (if we work at all), a clear sense of direction and shared sense of purpose is needed more than ever.
Whether you’re an employer working on a retention and recruitment strategy, or a disillusioned employee fed up with companies paying lip service to purpose and values without putting them into action, now is the time to embrace purpose with purpose: to steer organizations and inspire teams to live by their ‘why’ and make active, positive change.
Without purpose, organizations pay a heavy price including strategic missteps, employee attrition and lost profits. According to The Future Kind Collective, organizations that are purpose-driven outperform the stock market by 120%, increase employees’ productivity by 225% , and gain long-term loyalty from customers (with 79% of customers saying they’re loyal to purpose-driven brands).
“You’ve got a customer incentive, a financial incentive and an employee productivity incentive there,” says Natalie Pearce, Co-Founder of the Future Kind Collective and Insights Strategy consultant. “If I WERE a business leader seeing those stats, I would be thinking ‘I need to get my purpose sorted’ or ‘I need to figure out how I can get the most out of that.’”
Given all we’ve experienced with the pandemic and the dizzying acceleration of tech and AI, it’s no wonder that #whyorwhy not was trending on LinkedIn earlier in the year.
The renewed groundswell around purpose asks organizations to connect seriously with their ‘why’ or risk losing their talent, their customers and their place in the market.
“It can be a threat to organizations that don’t want to change,” Pearce says. “But it’s a great opportunity for companies that do want to create a better future for all of us.”
Organizations can no longer hide behind posters with half-felt headlines about company values on office walls. Leaders can no longer enforce tick-box, task-based incentives and enforce presenteeism for the sake of it.
The need for purpose goes well beyond day-to-day ‘to do’ lists or office setups. And with a purpose-focused Millennial workforce taking up approximately 75% of the workforce by 2025, choosing cause-driven businesses over monetary gain, the organizations that will succeed over the coming years are those that are willing to take a step back and ask themselves why they – and ultimately why their people – are here.
With the only certain thing about the future being that it is uncertain, purpose is needed now more than ever.
To stay relevant and authentic as organizations, clear and visionary as leaders, resilient as individuals, and aligned through shared values as teams, purpose is vital. As we work to put the pandemic behind us, we need to return to the very beginnings of why we started organizations in the first place.
Whether that be a 500-year-old heritage brand or a five-year-old start-up; now is the time for reflection and resurgence – a revival of asking why, before we get bogged down with ‘new normals’ that won’t stand the test of time (or another pandemic). “If we look closely enough,” Pearce says, “there is purpose and values in all jobs in existence.” So, what’s yours? Now is the time to find out.
Let us help your business today. Contact us now to start your journey.
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The power of purpose
Let us help your business today. Contact us now to start your journey.
To discover more about how self-awareness can help you and your organization be more purposeful, get in touch with us at Insights today.
To learn more about how to define and communicate your purpose with Natalie Pearce, visit The Future Kind Collective.
Everyone in your company deserves to have a sense of purpose for why they're there.
Natalie Pearce
Senior L&D consultant, Insights
With the only certain thing about the future being that it is uncertain, purpose is needed now more than ever.
To stay relevant and authentic as organizations, clear and visionary as leaders, resilient as individuals, and aligned through shared values as teams, purpose is vital. As we work to put the pandemic behind us, we need to return to the very beginnings of why we started organizations in the first place.
Whether that be a 500-year-old heritage brand or a five-year-old start-up; now is the time for reflection and resurgence – a revival of asking why, before we get bogged down with ‘new normals’ that won’t stand the test of time (or another pandemic). “If we look closely enough,” Pearce says, “there is purpose and values in all jobs in existence.” So, what’s yours? Now is the time to find out.
3. Use awareness to drive your purpose and achieve your goals - with Insights Discovery
2. Make purpose part of your recruitment strategy
From engaging prospective employees through a strong vision, to keeping teams inspired and aligned through actionable goals, organizations that have a sense of purpose have not only navigated the pandemic better, but they are using it to pivot; reshaping their strategy to stay relevant and adaptable, while staying true to their core values.
While a resilient team and successful organization is one that is unified by a strong purpose, the other important thing to remember about resilience is that it requires you to be adaptable.
Meaning and purpose are the bridges to which people who are going through adversity can build a better future for themselves.
Ian Faulder
Senior L&D consultant, Insights
Organizations that were able to flex during the pandemic – and continue to review their ‘why’ – are standing out.
“The companies that did well during Covid were those that had a clear sense of purpose and were able to pivot away from ordinary ways of working to something else,” Pearce says. “A good example were cafés whose purpose was about serving their local community that, despite not being able to open their doors and offer their usual service, switched to providing isolation care boxes instead.”
In this case, however, their purpose stayed the same – to serve the local community – they just found new ways to embrace it.
This is where differentiating your purpose from your ‘visions’ and ‘missions’ comes in, Pearce explains. While your purpose is your reason for being, your vision is the future you want to see and create; the image that inspires you. Your ‘mission’ is the job you need to undertake in order to get there (in short, your goals). Your mission can and often need to change, depending on the external environment, whereas your vision needs to stay consistent to keep you on track – the North Star that guides you and your people through difficult and changing times.
Even so, it’s good to “be open to new directions” Pearce says, and remember that key part of ikigai “what the world needs” (or for businesses “the human needs that you’re responding to”) – when reviewing your purpose.
The most successful organizations are those that not only react to change by flexing their services and taking on the most urgent missions, but those that can also progress their purpose to be in alignment with the most current (and future) world needs.
1. Be authentic and communicate your purpose effectively
Click the bubbles below to read more
How do organizations leverage the power of purpose to attract, build and retain teams during times of crisis and change?
Though purpose is personal, it’s important to remember that it is not self-motivated. Purpose is not egotistical; it does not compete for space, seek validation, or fight to be heard. It’s not about achievement, it’s about direction: the current that sits beneath your actions, keeping you aligned with your values and driving you forward. It can create change quietly from within, or facilitate world impact one step, one person, one act at a time.
This makes it a powerful connector in the workplace, helping teams stay aligned.
“The beauty of having a purpose is that it helps you connect with other people better,” Pearce says. “The whole idea of finding your people is much more feasible when you know who you are, what you believe in and what you strive for.”
As a study by the University of Pennsylvania recently shared; when people had a greater sense of purpose they experienced less loneliness and made better lifestyle choices to protect their health in the face of Covid-19.
Pearce continues, “The research suggests that if you have a purpose in life then you’re more likely to be both physically and mentally well on a daily basis. Whether that purpose is large or small – having that sense of purpose is meant to inform our existence in ways that impact our physical and mental health and our overall wellbeing.”
As we become increasingly global purpose needs to be strong and succinct enough to translate across multiple teams and cultures, and to last. “Alignment is so vitally important for success,” Pearce says.
“If you have multiple purpose statements in an organization, that starts to dilute your message and dilute the story you’re telling your employees about the direction, and the mission and vision of the business and what we’re all striving towards … so make sure you have one and be really clear on it and then embed it across your teams, your processes and systems.”
It’s no wonder then, that a study published by Harvard Business Review found that purpose-driven companies benefitted from greater global expansion (66% compared with 48%).
The point about purpose is that you are never going to achieve it. It’s unachievable. You have goals beneath your purpose that help you live it or contribute to it, but you should never achieve your purpose – because what happens on the other side of that?
Natalie Pearce
What is purpose?
While we may think we know the answer, like many previously considered ‘soft skills’ pre-pandemic, purpose is often misinterpreted and underestimated.
“Purpose is essentially the reason that something exists,” Pearce explains, “and usually that is for reasons above monetary and individual gain.”
As Co-Founder of The Future Kind Collective, that helps companies to grow faster and more sustainably by defining their purpose, Pearce uses the Japanese concept of ‘ikigai’ – your ‘reason for being,’ often illustrated as a Venn diagram with four parts:
1. what you’re good at
2. what you love
3. what the world needs
4. how you drive value, to help people and businesses get clear on their purpose.
"The idea is that when you find something that sits perfectly at the intersection of these elements, you’ve found your purpose.”
The idea of purpose, once considered a ‘nice to have’, has emerged from the pandemic with renewed vigor and importance.
In today’s era of digitalization, disruption and the great resignation unending how and where we work (if we work at all), a clear sense of direction and shared sense of purpose is needed more than ever.
Whether you’re an employer working on a retention and recruitment strategy, or a disillusioned employee fed up with companies paying lip service to purpose and values without putting them into action, now is the time to embrace purpose with purpose: to steer organizations and inspire teams to live by their ‘why’ and make active, positive change.
Without purpose, organizations pay a heavy price including strategic missteps, employee attrition and lost profits. According to The Future Kind Collective, organizations that are purpose-driven outperform the stock market by 120%, increase employees’ productivity by 225% , and gain long-term loyalty from customers (with 79% of customers saying they’re loyal to purpose-driven brands).
“You’ve got a customer incentive, a financial incentive and an employee productivity incentive there,” says Natalie Pearce, Co-Founder of the Future Kind Collective and Insights Strategy consultant. “If I WERE a business leader seeing those stats, I would be thinking ‘I need to get my purpose sorted’ or ‘I need to figure out how I can get the most out of that.’”
Given all we’ve experienced with the pandemic and the dizzying acceleration of tech and AI, it’s no wonder that #whyorwhy not was trending on LinkedIn earlier in the year.
The renewed groundswell around purpose asks organizations to connect seriously with their ‘why’ or risk losing their talent, their customers and their place in the market.
“It can be a threat to organizations that don’t want to change,” Pearce says. “But it’s a great opportunity for companies that do want to create a better future for all of us.”
Organizations can no longer hide behind posters with half-felt headlines about company values on office walls. Leaders can no longer enforce tick-box, task-based incentives and enforce presenteeism for the sake of it.
The need for purpose goes well beyond day-to-day ‘to do’ lists or office setups. And with a purpose-focused Millennial workforce taking up approximately 75% of the workforce by 2025, choosing cause-driven businesses over monetary gain, the organizations that will succeed over the coming years are those that are willing to take a step back and ask themselves why they – and ultimately why their people – are here.
The power of purpose