Perry Maddox explores why leaders must build purposeful, inclusive cultures and shares practical tips on how to build purpose and inclusion.
My brilliant board chair recently invited me to speak with her leadership team at Ovo Energy.
I immediately said yes, followed a moment later by,
“Why?”
How can I best be of help, I inquired. As part of their leadership away-day, she asked me to explore the topic of how leaders build purpose and inclusive cultures.
Purpose and inclusion.
Turns out, I’d asked the right question.
Why Ask Why.
“Why are we here?”
Everyone answers this question differently, but when a team’s answers cluster around shared themes, we’re on the path to shared purpose. That’s because why matters most.
So how would your teams answer?
- If the answer is silence, “money” or “it’s my job”, you may have a long way to go to build purpose.
- Maybe people will answer similarly. That’s great, probably. Just check that their themes align with the organization’s vision. Misaligned or divergent purpose is more dangerous than no purpose at all.
- Perhaps teams all answer glowingly with responses that speak to each other and the mission. Now we’re talking.
No matter the answer, be clear on one thing. Nourishing purpose is key to leadership.
When you weave purpose – when your teams share a “why” – cold, hard results are near. Purpose-driven organizations have more engaged, committed, and intrinsically motivated people.
The kind of people who create more impact and more value.
Build Purpose through Narrative.
We weave purpose through the stories we tell, the phrases we repeat, and the language we choose.
Communication is a primary job of leadership, so use it well to build purpose:
- Ask the right questions. We build purpose more through asking than by telling. The questions we ask signal the issues we want our teams to wrestle with. Trust your people to find the answers, pointing them toward purpose with the right questions.
- Give the clarity needed. Balance questions with clarity. Keep strategy documents simple, or at least simplify the communications materials. As a leader, repeat short, simple phrases on key concepts that aren’t up for debate. A teammate recently described the phrase “youth leadership” as “our strategy in two words.” I was thrilled to hear it, because I began using that mantra two years before to simplify our strategic narrative.
- Align your external narrative. Check your communications and branding. What story are you telling? Who’s voice tells it? If the internal and external narratives don’t align – for example if your brand is disruptive but your operations are traditional – purpose will suffer.
Leaders weave, feed and nourish purpose through narrative.
Build Purpose and Inclusion, Together.
Is it even purpose if it’s not shared?
We’re all different, but if there are large divides between different groups in your team, shared purpose will elude you. Shared purpose is inclusive by nature.
To build purpose across diverse teams:
- Nourish identity, culture & belonging. You can’t declare purpose, nor can you direct people to bring their full selves to work. Instead, leaders build cultures in which all individuals are respected in their full diversity and in which all thrive, feel that they belong, and can be themselves.
- Lead from the front. Sadly, most organizations have a long way to go on diversity, equity and inclusion. Our world sure does. It’s going to be bumpy, and you will face resistance on the road to inclusion. That’s why leaders must lead on inclusion from the front.
- Align mission impact. Connect the dots between inclusion, operations and impact. Demonstrate how inclusion improves bottom-line impact. If your work is particularly purposeful, also make the reverse connection. How can your purpose-rich mission and work inform more purposeful operations, culture and people development?
Inclusion and purpose go hand in hand. So does impact.
Align Personal Purpose.
Ever have a job where you couldn’t pursue your passion?
It drained you.
The foundation of collective purpose is individual purpose. Cultivate it:
- As a leader. What lights your fire? Your personal purpose may not align perfectly with your job, but beware if they are far apart. The closer they are, the more authentic, passionate and effective your leadership will be. Find the shared spark, small or large, that feeds your fire. You’ll be a better leader for it. You might even start a blog about that connection.
- In your team. Ask how team members’ passions can add value in work, and vice versa. Several of my senior leaders participate in initiatives outside work regarding women in leadership, diversity in leadership, mental health, and building power-restoring NGOs. These projects feed their fire, link to our mission and improve our work. The result is a highly engaged, high performing team.
This alignment is important across all levels of staffing. For inspiration, look to your volunteers and entry-level program staff. They often ooze the kind of purpose that drives both personal growth and mission impact.
Nourish the same across your entire team.
Weave Purpose & Inclusion for Impact & Wellbeing.
Collective purpose starts with individuals.
Feed your fire and those around you.
When you help people link personal passions with your mission, you craft shared purpose. When you do that across your team in its full diversity, you also build inclusion and wellbeing.
And when you weave purpose, inclusion, and wellbeing together, you get impact.
That’s why.
