The Power of Purpose

Of the five, which do you think is the most important?

This was a question posed to me by a very good friend, when I had got her all excited by talking about the following…..back in 2016 a clever professor up at the University of Stirling carried out some research into what it is about the elite athlete mindset that drives success. This research was commissioned by the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, and the Trust distilled down the results into what they called 5 #MoreThanMedals Attitudes. Confidence. Focus. Resilience. Determination. Motivation.

My friend asked me which of these was most important. My quick answer was Focus. Without Focus, it’s hard to achieve anything.

But as I went away, I reflected. I then called her back. “Actually, I think it’s motivation.”

There is a huge amount of literature and theory around motivation. From the classic distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, through to Daniel Pink’s seminal book Drive, and more recently Simon Sinek’s advocation of the Power of Why. (For those of you who don’t have time to read the books, there are some brilliant short youtube videos summarising both Daniel and Simon’s work on this).

I have been thinking about this a lot recently, as ever through the prism of sport. Rugby has provided us with a brilliant illustration of the power of purpose recently. Eddie Jones, Coach of the England Men’s Rugby Team, articulated an incredibly consistent ‘purpose’ over the last four years - winning the World Cup. Whilst the England team just fell short, the outcome was a dramatic improvement on their performance four years ago. Plus, as Michelangelo famously said: “The greatest danger is not that we aim too high and miss, but that we aim too low and achieve it.” And then we come to the Springboks - powered by a huge determination to make a difference in their country, and this time round create more lasting change than happened back in 1995. I have also been enjoying listening to Ben Ryan’s brilliant Sevens Heaven - hearing about the cyclone that devestated Fiji in the Olympic year of 2016, and once again how that gave the Rugby Sevens team an extra boost (on top of the already clear and compelling purpose of winning Fiji’s first Olympic medal.)

How does this translate back into the workplace? As individuals, an understanding of what drives you, what motivates you, what you care about, is key in ensuring sustained commitment and performance in your career. Think Steve Jobs: “I want to put a dent in the universe.” Seminal research carried out by Morten T. Hansen, for his book Great at Work, showed overwhelmingly that purpose is key (alongside passion) to drive individual performance. (Chapter 5 of this book contains a brilliant discussion of the relationship between passion and purpose, and how to actually understand these terms within the context of the workplace).

For teams within organisations, I have seen the importance of articulating a clear purpose at first hand; one that the team have been involved in developing, and to which everyone can bring some personal meaning. From my experience working with teams across sectors, this is key for teams at all levels, whether senior leadership teams or teams on the ground.

And then for organisations as a whole. Having clarity on why your organisation exists, and defining it in a way that motivates people to care about it, is so important. Take this as an example: back in the early 2000s, the Murray Dranoff Duo Piano Foundation, a non-profit arts foundation in the States, wanted to articulate and refine the core mission of their organisation. They were asked some fairly challenging (but key) questions to help: Why does your organisation exist? Can other organisations do what you do - and if so, what is it that you do that is unique? They were tasked with defining it in a way that would motivate other people to care about it. After all, volunteers must care enough to give up their time, donors must care enough to donate their money, and employees must care enough to stick by the organisation (tempted as they were by lucrative job offers elsewhere). They came up with the following:

‘We exist to protect, preserve, and promote the music of the duo piano.’

Does that make you care? In your gut? Whilst this mission was effective and meaningful inside the Murray Dranoff, outside the organisation it was opaque. After some tough Why questions, the breakthrough was reached when someone said: “I don’t want to be rude but why would the world be a less rich place if duo piano music disappeared completely?” Suddenly the floodgates opened, with the ultimate statement being fashioned around the fact that ‘it’s like having the sound of the orchestra but with the intimacy of chamber music.’ (Thanks as ever to the work of the brilliant Dan and Chip Heath for this example).

I spend an increasing amount of time helping organisations reflect on, and where necessary improve, their purpose. Sessions tend to be hard and challenging, but seeing faces light up when breakthroughs are made is just wonderful.

I will finish with a story from the GB Women’s Hockey squad. In the Rio Olympics cycle, determined to improve from their bronze at London 2012, the squad famously came up with their purpose: Be the Difference. Create History. Inspire the Future.

Each member of the squad was able to bring their own personal meaning to this statement, with some bits meaning more to some than others. During the Games, Alex Danson, leading goalscorer at Rio, was interviewing by the BBC. She was shown a clip of a young girl back in the UK who had picked up a hockey stick for the first time after watching the previous match on tv. Alex was clearly delighted, and immediately referenced the squad’s purpose in inspiring the future, and noted how helpful this was for her, halfway through a demanding Olympic Games as they were.

The power of purpose……