What Does it Mean to be Purpose-Driven?
The rise of ‘impact-led’ and ‘purpose-driven businesses is evident. But do we really know what it means to be purpose-driven? And what do we do with our “purpose” when we are clear of it? Katie Burkhart is a serial entrepreneur, jargon slayer, and the mastermind behind mlOS™ and she is here to debunk the myths.
Contrary to what mainstream thought leadership would suggest, we don’t have purpose in the bag. Case in point, one of the questions I get asked most often is, “What does it mean to be a purpose-driven business?” and I know The Good Business Club recently spent time listening to its members who asked, “What makes a Good Business?”
I have an answer rolled up neatly for fast-moving podcasts: “To run a purpose-driven business, you must have a valuable reason for existing and a clear understanding of why that matters — then build a business that inextricably links its impact to its financial engine.
In other words, profit is not the purpose of the company; profit is the outcome of identifying and effectively pursuing your focused purpose.”
The next question I get asked is, “Ok, I have my purpose. Now what do I do?”
This one took more time to answer, but I think it’s the key to making the purpose-driven model the standard for business.
For many people, being purpose-driven means that you’ll only focus on fluffy things like saving whales and hugging trees (both of which are in no way fluffy, funnily enough). That’s not true. The purpose economy is about investing our time in work that matters. It’s as much about aspirational impact as it is about pragmatic, value-delivering business strategy.
But the challenge that remains is how do we go about putting it into practice? After several years of research, as well as interviews with experts and business leaders alike, I determined that what we needed was something that defined clearly and practically what it means to run a purpose-driven business.
Enter mlOS™.
Fundamentally, mlOS™ is an operating system—it clearly defines what it means to run a purpose-driven business. It’s designed to embed purpose into the DNA of everything you do, in a way that enables agility, integration, and focus.
The system contains 9 interdependent components, with your purpose sitting at the center of everything you do:
Each of these components represents key aspects of any organization and the ones most essential to have aligned around your purpose.
Focus: The center of your business strategy, actions, and motivation
Decisions: How to make decisions on purpose
Aim: The tangible outcomes you're working toward
Humans: The ones who matter—from team, to customers, to community
Systems: How you consistently deliver impact
Measurement: The ways you measure progress and define success
Communication: How you connect everything
Calibration™: The pulse of your business
Learning: Elevating your people at all levels
Now comes the challenge of making this system accessible and actionable. I’ve taken that on as my personal mission and have started the process through MatterLogic™, which includes mlOS™, as well as other strategic components, resources, and education to help leaders like you run a smarter business.
And you can do it. In one of the other trends I discovered in my research, leaders would opt out of shifting their business because they didn’t think they were good enough, cool enough, or both. What’s worse, there was often a sense that many acclaimed social enterprises had formed almost an exclusive club of which they couldn’t be a part.
Well, I'm here to say that’s crap. You can run your business this way and we—as well as communities like The Good Business Club—are here to help you do it.
While the exact benefits of running a business this way are hard to quantify (especially since the existing studies all use a different definition of purpose-driven) some broad benefits are clear. Purpose-driven businesses can recruit, retain, and engage top talent; foster increased loyalty from their customers; and adapt rapidly during times of change.
Most importantly, it’s simply the way more and more of us are looking to work.
We’re in this together, and I’m always available if you’d like to talk. Sign up for a tea time here. And remember, you are good enough and cool enough to make an impact.
Katie Burkhart is the founder of MatterPulse, a tech-enabled strategic agency, and the mastermind behind mlOS™, the system for running a purpose-driven business.
