Unlocking value with purpose - 3 questions to Ranjay Gulati

Strategy and organizational growth expert Ranjay Gulati explains how meaningful engagement can unlock your potential for high performance in an interview with Neelima Mahajan for #Think:Act Magazine.

Think:Act Magazine: How can an organization embody purpose in a way everyone can get and act on?

Ranjay Gulati: People get stuck on the idea that a purpose is a mission statement. As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says, the mission statement is the starting point, not the end of the purpose journey. The hardest step is making it personal: How do you get people to connect with it in a meaningful way? Some companies took a radical step and said they needed to get employees to think about their personal life purpose – if they haven't thought about their own life purpose, how are they going to connect to a company's? Unilever had 60,000 employees go through life purpose training. BlackRock did that for all their employees. 

Think:Act Magazine: How does culture intersect with purpose? 

Ranjay Gulati: In the crazy turbulent times we're in right now, you need some constants around which you can build and grow your business. Culture provides behavioral mileposts. Purpose provides the North Star and existential milepost. Both of these work in support of each other. If you're going to shape your purpose, you're going to also work on your culture.  

Think:Act Magazine: Can you spot if a company is purpose washing?

Ranjay Gulati: In a transparent world like we're in today, customers can sniff this out. You'd be better off not having a purpose statement than one that is duplicitous or misleading. Organizations can unlock tremendous potential with their purpose, but they can also do themselves damage if they're engaged in purpose washing. Purpose unlocks economic and social value, employee productivity, supplier partnerships, employee morale and connection to your community. Purpose is good for business.