How Do You Instill A Higher Purpose In A Modern Corporation, And Should You?

Is the dichotomy real? You know the one:

• The design purpose of the modern corporation is to maximize the returns they produce for shareholders however they can, period – the common good, not our concern; the environment, not if it adds to our costs; sustainability, look Wall Street's focus is this quarter, this year maybe, and that's about how sustainable we need to be to attract and/or maintain investors
• Corporations need to pursue a social mission, a higher purpose, as their primary focus, with the best return they can for shareholders a close second if they are to build a vibrant and viable business and survive over the long haul? And, they need to be socially responsible, take care of their environment – you know, the triple bottom line.

With corporations like Apple, Google, Facebook and many many others, the question is almost a non sequitur because they each have a very clearly articulated higher purpose that is part of what draws the almost fervent following these companies enjoy. Those who are exposed to these companies services either love them or hate them – code in my book for, they support the higher purpose or they don't.

I am clear that the corporations with the strongest cultures, and the most dedicated followers and employees, are also the corporations with a clear mission and a clearly articulated higher purpose – a purpose that is beyond meeting the numbers and making good returns on investments – essential as growing the business and providing a good return to investors is for the long term ability to keep operating from and for a higher purpose.
In companies operating from a higher purpose, economic returns are measures of the company's health as it pursues its purpose, not the end game. Howard Schultz of Starbucks spells this out clearly in his new book, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Loosing Its Soul. He also outlined his perspectives in an interview he conducted with McKinsey Quarterly. In it he describes how just going for same store sales and profits nearly killed Starbucks.

We know from our personal experience, from anecdotes and from scholarly research that people work for more that a pay check – people need to find meaning, a higher purpose, in what they do for a living – they need intrinsic rewards even more than extrinsic rewards – if they are to love their work, be healthy, innovative, creative and productive. Sadly, far too many people look outside their corporations to family and personal life goals for meaning and a sense of purpose. What they do for a paycheck just has to be endured – it doesn't have to be that way.

But the big question is how do we find meaning and higher purpose in our work? Especially if we are working for an organization that is contributing to:

• The production of junk food that contributes to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and any number of other unhealthy side effects
• Polluting the environment by putting noxious, carcinogenic chemicals into our air and water
• Causing economic hardship by predatory lending practices that we have seen in the mortgage and finance industry – practices that most agree were the major contributors to our economic crisis of the last few years
• Externalizing a large part of their real cost of doing business on the local community, the environment and larger society – which a vast number of companies do.

In my advice to corporate leaders I am agnostic about what their higher purpose should be, just clear they should have one, and have one that each of their employees own and can wholeheartedly support. I am also clear that it is important to be open, honest and transparent with employees about what the real purpose of the organization is – it's the what you actually do vs. what you say you value.

Some years ago a consultant friend had a major tobacco company as a client. They were clear what their higher purpose was, and most of their employees were enrolled in it, to the point they had, "thank you for smoking" signs on their desks and would stop smokers in the street with a warm, "thank you for smoking" acknowledgement. Much as some of us do with our military personnel when we say, "thank you for your service".

Now, some years later, much of society has decided whether the purpose of having everyone be smokers is one we want to support, given the extent of the costs which we now know we have been, and are bearing – economists call this frequently used practice of corporations putting large parts of their costs on to the larger society, externalities.

It is not my role to be judgmental about one higher purpose over another. What I do advocate, as I've said, that we need to be open and up front about what the higher purpose is, so employees, customers, investors – all stakeholders make fully informed choices about participating with that organization and buying their products and services.

Ask yourself, what is the higher purpose of the company you work for?

• If it weren't for the paycheck would you want to be part of what they are doing?
• What would be missing from society if the company you worked for disappeared, and would it matter?
• In what way does your company make a difference in society – it would matter if your company disappeared – and does everyone who works at you company know that and does it shape their actions and decisions?
• Did you know the higher purpose of your company when you joined it, and was that a major part of decided to join?
• What costs does your company pass on to the local community and larger society in pursuing the higher purpose? And, is there a conversation within the company to eliminate or mitigate these costs?

Organizations are an essential part of human society. We could not accomplish much that we take for granted without them. And, they also have the potential to be harmful to the common good as they benefit the few.

How organizations function, especially in our socially connected world of blogs and tweets is up to each of us - not just the C-Suite executives, and shareholders. What we have seen in the larger world of social activism will eventually be what members of organizations will confront if they forget the interests of all in the service of the interests of the few.