Leadership: Communicating Purpose
While visiting NASA for the first time in 1962, President John F. Kennedy encountered a janitor walking down the hallway with a broom and asked him what he did. The gentleman replied, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” When everyone in your organization understands their purpose, amazing things happen.
Good leaders provide purpose and communicate it clearly to their organizations, enabling everyone to have the conviction of the man who JFK encountered during his visit to NASA.
Business Benefits of a Clear Purpose
The idea that leaders must provide, and clearly communicate, purpose is more than just a feel-good philosophy. There are tangible business benefits to effectively communicating purpose:
-Higher productivity and fewer distractions to business objectives
-Enabled workforce that can exercise initiative for better outcomes
-Higher personnel retention; employees believe what they do is important to the business
-Individuals and teams are better able to overcome challenges and set-backs
-Workers are healthier, mentally and physically
-Increased customer satisfaction
Integrity of Purpose
Nearly all the business leaders I know have a vision for their companies, but few organizations have the integrity of purpose embodied by NASA in 1962: a wholeness that permeates everyone and everything. Integrity of purpose is when everyone’s actions can be connected to the organization’s overall purpose.
For example, hardware stores are retail centers where one can buy material and tools for do-it-yourself home improvement, but we have also come to expect some level of DIY advice while there. While we don’t always receive high-quality advice, think back when you did and how much better the experience was.
A few years ago, I went to a home improvement store to buy a replacement head for my yard’s sprinkler system. I went to the lawn care section, the wrong section, but was met by a customer service representative who walked me back to the plumbing area. He noticed the sprinkler-head I had was outdated and explained that modern heads could reduce water consumption by 60%. He further informed me how I could receive a rebate if I converted my entire system. He offered tips on how to replace them and advised me on things to look for to avoid trouble. He shared a video link with me, step-by-step instructions on how to change sprinkler-heads. I left the store confident, satisfied, and with a box of 20 new sprinkler heads along with a smart control-system that automatically adjusted water usage based on rainfall. The materials paid for themselves during the first month of use. The store’s motto is to help customers do it right the first time, a purpose that the customer service representative clearly understood.
I’ve been back to that store many times and have gotten to know the manager. He knows that most home-improvement stores carry the same materials and tools, and that the way to differentiate themselves is through customer experience. His shifts begin with a team meeting in which employees are reminded of their purpose to help customers do it right the first time by offering advice or connecting them with someone who can. There is a standing rule for employees to walk customers to goods and services they ask about, not just tell them which aisle they are in. I’ve even witnessed the manager guiding customers through the store. These walks promote the kind of conversations that reveal how customers can be helped, and they are a great example of a daily practice that supports the purpose of the business.
Keep It Simple and Clear
An organization’s purpose doesn’t have to be presented in a multi-media stage production starring an executive and featuring core values, pillars of inspiration, paths toward success, motivational milestones all tied to a world-saving vision—you get the picture.
Organizational purpose should be clear, succinct, and memorable. Leaders should tie everything they do to the organization’s purpose and do it often. When offering guidance to subordinates, leaders should never miss the opportunity to connect those directions with their business’s purpose. The organization’s purpose should be a natural component of the business’s lexicon. A true test of effectiveness is everyone in the organization being able to connect their daily, routine actions with the organization’s purpose in a meaningful way.
Leaders are responsible for providing and clearly communicating purpose. Nearly all businesses have a purpose and communicating it effectively throughout an organization can have amazing results.
At Mungadai, we help organizations develop their leadership teams to communicate more impactfully and propel amazing business results. Contact us—we would love to speak with you!