Are you struggling to shift between profit and purpose?

In a world where volatility and rapid change are the norm, leaders must learn to balance seemingly opposing forces. SHIFT: Leading from the Future – co-authored by Mike Straw, CEO and founder of Achieve Breakthrough, and leadership expert Paul Adams – explores the critical mindset shifts needed to navigate today’s complex business environment. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing a series of articles that dive deeper into the book’s core themes. We begin with “Are You Struggling to Shift Between Profit and Purpose?”, an exploration of practical steps to align commercial success with a meaningful, measurable purpose.

Five steps to achieve balance between making money and finding a purpose that resonates

Purpose is magnetic for today’s business. Declaring an authentic commitment to a purpose beyond creating profits not only attracts the best staff, but loyal customers and concerned investors. But profits are also essential if your business is to survive. Real success is not ‘either-or,’ but ‘purpose AND profit.’ So, how do you make the shift and get the right balance? This article outlines five key steps that will ensure all stakeholders are engaged, incentivised and on board.

Profits are loud and clear – they are easy to measure and understand. You can easily point to a definitive figure the proves the profit you did (or did not) make. To compete, purpose must be equally clear, understood and measurable by all interested parties. Purpose must be transformed from a passive slogan on the company brochure to a proactive element at the heart of every activity. Successful businesses make their purpose collaborative, exciting, everyday, agile and consistent.

Make it collaborative

Too often, purpose is decided by a small cadre of individuals, usually the most senior in the business. This might be fine if you are founder-led challenger competing on the basis of a distinctive purpose -but this is hard to scale. Once you have grown beyond a few dozen people, or if you are seeking a new purpose in an established business, it is essential to include the opinions of a wider audience.

We no longer live in the era of Gutenberg, when a statement crafted at the centre is distributed, absorbed and accepted by the masses. In the era of Zuckerburg and social media, co-creation is expected. Do you, as senior leaders, really know what your colleagues and employees care about? If and when you ask them, do you really listen, not only for what’s said, but what’s not said? Tuning into the ‘little voices’, the quiet concerns, the uncomfortable interpretations will help co-create a purpose that truly is a shared vision. If people believe it, they will live it and see it grow.

Make it exciting

To compete with the noisy and simple metric of profit, your purpose must be exciting. It must elicit a passion among employees. That passion is infectious and spreads to customers, partners and investors, but it needs to be rooted in real delight. Humans are drawn to those things that bring enjoyment, fulfilment and reward. Your purpose should allow all stakeholders to step into and inhabit a desirable future state that reflects their values.

Creating excitement means committing to something big that takes you beyond the day-to-day. Promising more of the same and business as usual is unlikely to inspire anyone. So, as you co-create, inspire your teams to think big and commit to aspirational goals.

Make it everyday

Whilst committing to a big audacious purpose that rouses excitement be sure to anchor it into the daily activity of the business. Purpose is not a ‘won and done’ activity or even an annual commitment. Purpose should be considered as an input to every decision made at every level of the organisation. People across the business should feel empowered and encouraged to talk about purpose and its impact on their daily work all the time. This will happen naturally if your purpose is truly co-created and exciting for the organisation, but leaders must model its full inclusion into decision making. If everyone sees the power of purpose to influence decisions it will be ingrained deeply in the day-to-day experience of work, and thus become more powerful still.

Make it agile

But beware becoming craven to purpose for its own sake. An effective purpose should be challenging, but it should also be challenged. Situations change, context alters, and organisations learn through experience. Remain flexible and agile to amend, transition or even transform your purpose when necessary. Remember, your commitment is to balance purpose and profit goals, not to doggedly champion a specific vision that has proven to be ill-suited to changed circumstances.

Leaders need to constantly appraise the fit between their purpose, their organisation, people and wider social and economic environment. They need to be in tune with the values, aspirations and concerns of all of their stakeholders.

Make it consistent

Building and maintaining a purpose on deeply held values helps ensure it remains relevant and true even as it evolves to meet changing circumstances. Like trust, it takes time to build a purpose with which all parties can fully engage. This consistency needs to align with the values of individuals within the organisation as well as the communities it serves, only then will it become the ‘North Star’ that guides decisions, actions and behaviours across the business in a way that fully balances the need to deliver profits.

Today’s organisations can never stand still in an economic and social environment where the pace of change is only accelerating. To remain committed to an authentic, declared purpose, as well as continuing to deliver profits, requires a leadership mindset that can constantly adjust to maintain balance.

This is not about shifting once from profit to purpose, but rather about actively navigating the precise path that gives each their due consideration. Effective leaders must stay tuned into their own inner voices, as well as the expressed and unexpressed concerns of all their stakeholders. They need to work to be constantly aware of the context that shapes decisions, and the impact of evolving circumstances around them.

Read more about thriving in an era of volatility in our latest book SHIFT: Leading from the Future available on Amazon.com