5 characteristics of an effective purpose statement:

As a follow up to our last article outlining our Purpose Discovery Model, it’s now critical you do your discovery work justice. To do this, you need to clearly articulate your purpose.

Because purpose has gained popularity primarily as a marketing tool, there are a lot of resources available on how to effectively articulate purpose. So rather than belabor the point, our succinct approach favors a purpose statement that is as follows:

1. Inspirational – it acts as a connector and catalyst to building a community and /or movement;

2. Relevant – it should reflect how your operate your business and interact with your stakeholders;

3. Actionable – it should guide the future direction;

4. Enduring – while the statement itself may be updated / refined over time, the underlying spirit and philosophy should remain consistent;

5. Memorable – it should be short and impactful enough for people to be able to recollect and recite.

When purpose is being applied to a specific product or brand, some marketers and agencies would make an argument for it being unique. That’s a point that can be debated. We would argue that for the company’s core purpose – a unique purpose is not a priority. However, how the company differentiates itself can be articulated further through the mission, vision and values. As discussed previously, alignment is critical. When it’s right, we refer to the purpose being the heartbeat of these three components that pump life into the brand promise and strategic ambitions. How the purpose is delivered and brought to life such as way the company treats its people, how it drives profit through a value proposition and many other elements may (and should) also, be unique.

What’s most important however, is that the purpose meets the 3A Purpose-Performance, has been discovered through a thoughtful and inclusive process and it meets the 5 characteristics outlined above.

What are some great examples of organizational purpose that have been deeply embedded?

While we have not led these companies through our Purpose Discovery Model directly, we are confident they each went through their own comprehensive and inclusive deep dive, to discover and then articulate their purpose:

• AirBnB: “Creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere”

• Tesla: “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy”

• Allbirds: “Making better things in a better way”

• Patagonia: “We’re in business to save our home planet,”

• CocaCola: “Refresh the world. Make a difference.”

• LinkedIn: “Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”

Our next article, is where the rubber meets the road, as we look forward to sharing with you how to integrate purpose to drive towards peak performance. In the meantime, please share this article with anyone who you think it would benefit and if you have any comments, insights or questions, let’s chat!