CEOs and organizations are too willing to boast that they have a 'good culture.' That's not enough. Culture has become a word for 'me-too.' Culture has become the "cool" approach to focus on. We may need to reconsider the next step of what culture implies, however.
In their careers, an growing number of generation Z hires and seasoned senior staff are searching for sense.
A much more productive way of leading an organization is to concentrate on intention over tradition.
The book Trailblazer by Marc Benioff describes that leaders would need to concentrate their organization on making a contribution outside of themselves.
Reflecting on the book by Benioff made me understand how we were worried with corporate culture over intent.
I've met several CEOs eager to invest in changing communities and cultures. In addition, few are willing to spend time or money on describing and correctly describing
1 Culture has turned into a trend. The intent is more profound.
Businesses will focus on more than just profit in the fifth industrial revolution. Instead, we're looking at climate change, restoring trust and encouraging equality. How do we make better use of technology to reverse the harm we have done to our planet?
The objective should be the driving force of the enterprise enabled by 5IR and should be defined with a lean towards diversity and inclusion. We all need to start thinking about meaning, whether it's how we can contribute more towards groups, the broader economy, pushing boundaries within our industries or driving better solutions.
What if we looked at alignment with intent instead of employee engagement? In what Benioff calls V2MOM's (Vision, Principles , Strategies, Challenges, and Measures) or KPIs, managers could embed aim points, being clear about the effect we choose to make on markets or broader society.
Defining purpose can mean different things within organizations. All of us should not set out to save the world. Instead, it's easier to be straightforward about the actual reasons why people would work for you. Inside your business, what good are you trying to do? What shift are you attempting to create?
At Modulr, we tried to unlock services that were underserved in the B2B system. Our objective is to provide broader, fairer access to services. It helps us to be a tech-focused business that cares about pioneering within a market.
How will the company be associated with its true purpose? How could this connection be with the KPIs of your workers and the overall performance of the company?
Innovators are outperforming their peers
The fifth industrial revolution, I believe, will bring about a transition to purpose-driven leadership. This leadership will be activated by technology, but will concentrate mainly on social and economic change for good.
Purpose-driven organizations outperform their peers. The study by Imperative found that between 2013-2016, 58 percent of companies with a clearly defined goal achieved growth of 10 percent or more.
If they want to attract and maintain talent, great leaders need to start thinking about embracing intent. Purpose-driven companies are structured to have more workers involved who feel more aligned with business goals.
3. To make it a business priority, bind aim to hard metrics.
Over the past five years, measuring employee engagement has been an increasing area of investment. Data on interaction has been used as a barometer of how good an organization is. The aim, I would argue, is a more worthwhile investment.
The use of intent as a way of aligning an entire organization would be a safer method.
Purpose is a greater motivator than the culture of business. Figuring out how to incorporate purpose throughout an organization shifts how a whole business thinks. Leadership must be transparent with respect to vision. Through meaningful discussions between managers and their direct reports, this clarity should roll downhill.
With a clearly communicated mission, Salesforce was effectively led under Mark Benioff. Salesforce sales grew from $8.4 billion to $13.3 billion between 2017 and 2019.
Imagine a future in which the same attention and creativity they bring to solving their most challenging business challenges is applied by CEOs and their businesses around the world to solve our most complex social issues. Together, by building communities of advocacy where every person is directly invested in making the world a better place, we can make the future a reality.