Beyond why: The how of purpose

TPB Founder & Director Pat Dwyer believes the lack of understand of purpose is holding companies back.

I cannot help but agree with a recent post by David Willans on Purpose: too much why, not enough how. Purpose risks becoming the new “foodie” or “bespoke” – a word thrown around to mean something in particular, but that now encompasses all the noise around it.

David’s right – In order for purpose to lead to a concrete ‘how’, it needs to be in business language, a framework applicable to day-to- day use and lived out by all employees, especially the leaders .

The lack of the ‘how’ is linked to a lack of real understanding of purpose in the first place.

It’s a hard question- what is your purpose? What is your why? When you do finally know what it is, it can be daunting to live up to it – and every time you exercise it, it must be both authentic and consistent .

I’d like to offer you an answer to the how, which is responsible business. If purpose is defined as an organisation’s ‘why’ – then doing everything on purpose should be second nature, a sort of moral compass. In the world of sustainability, everyone has tired of the terms “eco”, “CSR”, “CR, “sustainable” and many more. Everyone recognises it, many think they know it, yet few understand it.

What sustainability is actually trying to achieve is just good business sense. Manage our operations well. Be fair. Be excellent in what we do and create an impact that everyone can share. The concept is not new. The concept is in fact- inextricably linked to an organisation’s purpose. The maturity levels along what many call the ‘journey’ only show the extent to which purpose is lived out in the day to day, as David says, by “everyone in the business, especially the leaders”.

Purpose does not allow you to ‘do the right thing’ and build schools and orphanages – but not know where your downstream waste goes. Purpose requires consistency in the way you engage stakeholders – if employees sign a Code of Ethics, then tier one suppliers should likewise be beholden to transparency in labor and environmental practices. Most of all, purpose requires authenticity. Burson Marsteller published a report alongside IMD on the authenticity of purpose which states that “authentic corporate purpose needs to be central to a company’s strategy and not simply a marketing or communications exercise”. The report goes on to dissect the twelve key drivers to authentic corporate purpose which relate to identity and image.

So, ‘how’ to live out purpose? With authenticity. Consistently. All the time. Running a responsible business goes beyond being true to your vision, mission and objectives. It hits the core of your purpose- and if every decision is anchored in purpose, you will not go wrong.