Is Your Purpose Lectured, Or Lived?

Executives think their firms are truly purpose-driven, but their employees disagree. How should employers close the say-do gap?

- Valerie Keller

As human beings in a busy world, our time on this planet is precious. Will we spend it trying to make as much money as possible? Or will we forgo margins in favour of meaning, ditch profit in lieu of purpose?

At EY Beacon Institute, we believe that is a false choice. A movement is underway among firms large and small toward a more purpose-driven working world. As leaders of some of the world’s leading companies are finding, an organisational purpose that goes beyond quarterly profits and shareholder dividends isn’t just good for morale — it’s good for business.

Engaged leadership is critical to building purpose-driven businesses. As one executive told us, “You need to have a CEO who lives and breathes [their purpose] every day.” Too often, however, the good intentions of purposeful executives are not producing the desired results.

Many leaders wholeheartedly believe they are doing a good job of articulating a compelling purpose and using it to guide how they do business and make decisions. When we asked one CEO of a global firm, for example, if his employees thought his firm was living its purpose as well as executives said it was, he told us, “I bet employees would rate it pretty much the way I do. I think we see eye to eye on that.”

He might want to reconsider that bet. Our research and observations suggest he may be a casualty of a pervasive overconfidence bias that leaves leaders viewing their company’s commitment to purpose far more optimistically than their employees.

IDENTIFYING A PURPOSE DISCONNECT