Lynn Harris

10-minute read

Why do you choose to lead? 
Why should people follow you?

These are important questions because leaders have enormous impact on organizational success and on their employee’s lives. It’s almost a cliché to say that people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad bosses – but according to Gallup’s State of the American Manager report :

"Having a bad manager is often a one-two punch: Employees feel miserable while at work, and that misery follows them home, compounding their stress and putting their well-being in peril."

Stepping up to be a leader gives you the power to impact the success of your organization and the success and well-being of the people you lead. As Uncle Ben says to Spider Man in the movies: With great power comes great responsibility. Leading ‘on purpose’ - knowing why you choose to lead, what you stand for, and the contribution you want to make - guides the use of this power for meaningful contribution to the people you lead, to your organization, to your customers, and to your community.

Step 1: My leadership purpose

This is about creating a first draft individual leadership purpose statement – something you can test and refine throughout your leadership journey.  Creating an authentic, well thought-through leadership purpose acts as a guiding force that provides meaning in your work and influences your decisions and behaviour.

For example:

“To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.” –  Oprah Winfrey, Founder of The Oprah Winfrey Network

“To serve as a leader, live a balanced life, and apply ethical principles to make a significant difference. –  Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell Soup Company

“To have fun in my journey through life and learn from my mistakes.” –  Sir Richard Branson, Founder of The Virgin Group

Here are some guidelines and questions to help you think about your own leadership purpose:

What a purpose statement is NOT:

• It’s not a jargon-filled catch phrase e.g., empower others to achieve exceptional results while delighting customers

• It doesn’t have to be aspirational or cause-based e.g., save the environment or create world peace

• It’s not what you think you should or ought to do. You are not trying to please others with your statement

A purpose statement:

•  Reflects who you are and what makes you distinctive

• Reflects what you are driven to achieve

• Captures the strengths and passions you bring to the table

• It’s what people close to you recognize as uniquely you and would miss most if you were gone

• Is used to guide your own actions

Try writing your answers to these stimulating questions:

•  Why do I choose to lead others?

• Why should others follow me?

• What do I want my colleagues to say about me behind my back?

Now have a go at writing a first draft of your individual leadership purpose statement. It’s helpful if it:

• Is clear and concise

• Uses words that most resonate with you

• Calls you to action

• Feels important to you at a gut level

To further stimulate your thinking, watch this 2-minute video with Harvard Professor, Bill George 

Step 2: My distinctive contribution

Now that you have your first draft leadership purpose statement, you are ready to think about your distinctive contribution. This is about what you will do – your behaviors and actions – to live your leadership purpose and contribute to the well-being and success of your people, your organization, your customers, and your community.

In his TED talk, Are you a giver or a taker? Wharton Professor, Adam Grant says:

“Success is really more about contributing. I believe that the most meaningful way to succeed is to help others succeed”.

After surveying 30,000 people, Grant distinguishes between Givers, Takers and Matchers. Givers create more successful organizations and teams, but only if they give mindfully. This means that when you think about your distinctive contribution, you need to be mindful about where best to invest your energy, skills, and experience to make the most meaningful contribution.

As with your leadership purpose, your distinctive contribution will likely change and develop over time. To help you think about where to best invest your energy, experience, and skills right now, try writing your thoughts on the following questions:

• What distinctive contribution do I want to make to the people I lead?

• What distinctive contribution do I want to make to my organization through my work?

• What distinctive contribution do I want to make to my customers and my community?

• Where will I invest my energy, skills, and experience to have the biggest impact?

Step 3: The benefits of my contribution

To support your leadership purpose and contribution, it helps to define the benefits - the positive outcomes of leading ‘on purpose’.  Awareness of the benefits of how you choose to lead and contribute provides both feedback and incentive. You will see the positive impact on others, which then feeds a virtuous cycle of continuing to live your purpose and your unique contribution.

The final step to create this virtuous purpose cycle is to write your thoughts on the following questions:

What will be the benefits of living my purpose and my distinctive contribution:

• To the people I lead?

• To my organization?

• To my customers?

• To my community?

• To myself?

After creating your first draft Purpose Cycle, you might find it helpful to give it a test run with your team, colleagues, friends, and family.  See what it feels like to say your purpose, contribution and benefits out loud. Ask them for their support and challenge in understanding if they fit with what they know of you. Treat this as a first draft to be tested and adapted over time as you continue to develop as a leader.

Organizational Purpose

Individual purpose and contribution are, of course, only part of the story. As a leader you are an integral part of an organization that (I hope) is also guided by a clear and meaningful purpose.

For a long time, the purpose of corporations was pretty limited – create value for shareholders. However, in August 2019, the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of America’s leading companies, released a new statement on the purpose of a corporation. This purpose statement outlines a broader set of 5 commitments: 

• Deliver value to customers

• Invest in employees

• Deal fairly and ethically with suppliers

• Support communities in which companies work

• Generate long-term value for shareholders

It was signed by 181 prominent CEO’s who committed to lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders.  

Many senior leaders take their organization’s purpose seriously – revisiting it regularly to ensure it is still fit for purpose; using it to make important decisions and set direction; and aspiring to role-model it.

You can strengthen your own leadership purpose and contribution by aligning it with your organization’s purpose. In other words, how does your purpose support and help realize what your organization is striving to achieve? This alignment will help you to continue to prioritize where and how you invest your leadership contribution.

Next Steps

It can be challenging to devote the time and effort needed to complete and align your Purpose Cycle. Let’s face it, you’ve got real work to get on with! It really depends on how serious you are about being the best leader you can be; and on how much you want to make a meaningful contribution to your people, your organization, your customers, and your community.

You might make it easier for yourself by collaborating with others to discuss and explore the questions in each step of the cycle. If you are part of a leadership team, you could do the exercise together at your next leadership meeting or off-site. If you lead a team, try taking your team through it, using your own completed cycle as a working example.

The challenge then is to lead in alignment with your stated purpose and to use it as part of your leadership journey. Remind yourself daily of why you choose to lead and aspire to show up in a way that inspires others to follow you. In other words, lead ‘on purpose’.

Lynn Harris is a founding Partner of Leadership Mindset Partners.

Her personal purpose is: To make a positive difference to someone’s life today.

Her leadership purpose is: To develop leaders people want to follow and organizations people want to be a part of.