The first thing required for a start-up is a mission statement, the “Why” or the reason for its existence. Many companies, even though they formulate their mission statement before the start of their venture, do not follow through with their mission, resulting in the mission statement reducing to a mere group of words with no meaning, whatsoever. Being a purpose-driven organization means turning the mission statement into more than just those words. We have already explored the importance of being purpose-driven. What competent leaders do is adapt this mission statement and use it to guide their business and rally the company to what it needs to be. Here are the top five tips from members of Forbes Business Council on how to create a purpose-driven organization in the 21st Century.
1. Have 100% Clarity in the Mission
The key to a purpose-driven organization starts with having a 100% understanding of the mission statement in the leaders. This clarity turns into the North Star that will guide you in formulating all strategies and tactics and crises. This means that every decision that will be made will be in the service of this mission and ultimately for the growth of the company.
2. Make your Vision Relatable
This is critical and we cannot stress this enough. Most companies have a vision that is somewhere along the lines of “Our Product will change the world”. However, this is only understood by software engineers. Nevertheless, how would your sales representative relate to this? That is why the founders need to break it down to key values and frameworks that can be understood by everyone working in critical roles.
3. Lead a Purpose-Driven Life
The best way to lead a purpose-driven organization is to lead a purpose-driven life. Ask yourself, why you do what you do. This is usually intimately personal, and hence you can follow through passionately. This lends authenticity to the mission and will shine through.
4. Understand What Motivates You and the Team
Build enough trust and communication strength with the team so you can understand what motivates them to work for a common cause. Teams work best when they are motivated and have the same purpose. The unity helps bring out the best in every individual, as they will grow supportive of each other and be more focused on easily accomplishing their goals.
5. Genuinely Believe in the Mission
Consumers can sense when the “Why” of the company is not genuine from miles away and they would distance themselves as much as they can from such companies. If the company’s actions do not match up to your mission and goals, the company will most surely fail. However, for start-ups, the founders have to genuinely believe in the mission for the business to even take off from the ground. When the founders believe in the mission, it becomes embedded in everything and everyone and becomes a vital force in the company.
6 Focus on Customers
Every company regardless exists to create value for the customer. If anything, that is a compelling purpose for an organization, i.e. to be entirely focused on how to create value for a customer can be a good starting point. A mission statement that does not speak about customer value creation will never find traction within the company.
