How Purpose Drives Business Growth

🚀 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮𝟬+ 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 After over two decades of working on purpose-driven leadership, here’s what I’ve learned: 𝟭. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 + 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 💰  The most successful companies are led by authentic leaders who balance purpose with profit. These leaders navigate their teams through the inevitable ups and downs, providing stability and vision. 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 👯  We all yearn to be part of something greater than ourselves. While a paycheck is essential, true fulfillment comes from contributing to a larger mission. 𝟯. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 🏔️ You can have all the strategy in the world, but you need people to take the hill. For that, you need a leader with vision, passion, commitment, and authenticity that people want to follow. 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆: 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 🛫  Southwest Airlines is the OG example of purpose-driven success. Under the leadership of founder Herb Kelleher, they offered $49 fares, democratized air travel, giving many the freedom to fly for the first time. This purpose—freedom—not only transformed the airline industry but also deeply motivated their employees. The result? They achieved 33 consecutive years of profitability which included 127 consecutive profitable quarters as of 2008. 🎯 Purpose-driven leadership is not just a buzzword; it’s a proven strategy for sustained growth + employee engagement. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 🌟 I’ve seen firsthand how aligning purpose with profit can transform not just businesses, but lives. It’s about creating a legacy that goes beyond the bottom line. As Jim Collins (of "Good to Great" 📕 ) says: "𝗔 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲" 🔍 How does your organization balance purpose and profit? I’d love to hear your stories + insights in the comments! 👇 #Leadership #PurposeDriven #EmployeeEngagement #BusinessGrowth Tagging in many who have been on this journey too: Roy Spence Haley Rushing Judy Trabulsi Debra Goetz Sandra Cordova Micek Keith Yamashita Susan Schuman John Wallace Christy Sinnott Gina Tallarico Rosemary Mercedes Betsy Alekman Denise Matamoros Kerai Lara Mosko Alex Hadad Mark Katz Andrew Golomb Tanya De Poli Checha Agost Carreño Robin Hafitz Tonia O'Connor Mark Hoplamazian Sarah Friar Charles Conn Jim Stengel Suzanne Tosolini Scott Goodson John Rose Neal Zuckerman Tim Regan Jeremy Gaines ....

Most companies say they're great places to work, but very few employers actually validate (using data) that the HR practices they're employing are *driving better outcomes* and are *good for employees*. As the Head of the Americas of Top Employers Institute, I'm often asked: "What distinguishes a ‘Top Employer’ from the rest?" We validate the HR practices of 2,400+ global multinational companies to help them benchmark their people practices and look beyond the benchmarks in an effort to build a better world of work - and employers work with Top Employers Institute to unlock a data-driven approach to improving business outcomes. We certify and recognize those organizations committed to meeting the highest standards across their people practices. This is broken down into 3 main steps: 1) We survey the HR & Talent teams on over 300 HR and People Practices. 2) Our team of HR auditors validate their responses and collect evidence. 3) If the data and evidence shows they do enough of the best-practices consistently, they have a better chance to certify as a Top Employer. If the data shows otherwise, participants then have access to the data to improve for the future but aren't officially recognized. Here are the top 8 traits of certified Top Employers in 2025: 1) Purpose-driven: Consistently use purpose measurement scorecards to align actions with purpose (+19% revenue growth) 2) Employee-centric & Wellness Oriented: use engagement action plans and manager accountability to drive effectiveness (correlated to +16% revenue), and provide time for employees to unplug and de-stress (correlated to +13% revenue). 3) Growth-focused & Collaborative: Prioritize growth markets, segments, and geographies (+16% revenue) and engage employees in action planning using survey insights (correlated to +11% revenue) 4) Coaching culture: Build strong coaching cultures (correlated to +14% revenue) 5) Inclusive benefits: Offer family-friendly perks like childcare contributions (correlated to +12% revenue) 6) Values-based: Integrate sustainability into leadership values (correlated to +11% revenue) 7) Community-builders: Assign peer buddies to new hires to build belonging (correlated to +10% revenue) 8) Fairness: Conduct pay equity analysis to ensure fair compensation (+12% adoption rate from 2024 to 2025 at Top Employers) The data shows that focusing on purpose, people, and fairness pays off in engagement, retention and revenue, but the challenge is that HR hasn’t traditionally been able to measure and track progress on their people practices holistically every year. That's where we come in. Top Employers are pioneering next-practices with us as we shape the future of work together. Question for you: what innovative ways is your employer taking the lead to elevate your work experience? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.

I want to share some work with you. It's one of the most fascinating projects I've worked on as a consultant, and it tackles one of the hottest topics in business and branding: how does purpose create value? Every organization needs a north star to guide its action, but the discourse about purpose is becoming a fight between activists and skeptics. So I worked with business design and transformation consultants co:collective to go beyond the arguments and understand how companies really put purpose into practice, and how it really creates value. We spoke with executives from 20 orgs, from established giants like The New York Times Johnson & Johnson and Ford Foundation, to new-gen companies like Opendoor and YETI. The result is The Generative Business Project. Here are the big lessons we learned about generative businesses. A good purpose reflects the positive impact of the core business. You can't run an organization around a grafted-on cause. A good purpose is a company-wide concept. It's not a line for a communications campaign. Purpose gives businesses powers of growth that normie companies don't have. In Co's words, purpose is a generative force. We found seven ways that purpose consistently unlocks growth: Focus. Purpose is a decision filter. It's a common approach for an entire organization. Innovation. Purpose reminds the company how to improve people's lives, which is an automatic brief for innovation. And it works as a mandate for constant improvement. Alliances. When you have a purpose, external partners including suppliers and retailers want to contribute to your success. Impact. A purpose gives you a bigger addressable market, and encourages you to swing for the fences. Talent. Employees want to contribute to positive goals, so purposeful companies attract and retain talent. Demand. Customers trust you and like what you do, so you unlock incremental revenue, expansion potential, and pricing power. Longevity. Purpose is a defense against bad internal decisions and external threats. Purpose gives you greater capacity to reinvent yourself. You can download the report here: https://lnkd.in/e5HKtats It's a good read whether you're an idealist who wants to improve the world through business, or a hard-headed realist who wants to see whether purpose really contributes to business goals. If you're a leader who wants to run your organization and your innovation around a purpose, or if you want to share your experience with The Generative Business project, you should speak with Amanda Ginzburg at Co: Big thanks to Co: partners Rosemarie Ryan Ty Montague Neil Parker Amanda Ginzburg and Sarah Fischer. I loved working with you on this. And big thanks to the friends and contacts who contributed to the study. You know who you are. The business world is a better place for your work. And if you're interested in building IP that could unlock a bigger future for your business, we should talk.