The purpose is the reason for being.
Why does your organization exist?
Why does your team exist?
Why do you exist?
A clear purpose focuses the team to a common agenda and helps attract the right team.
Winning companies spend a lot of time defining their purpose. You want prospective staff and partners to read your purpose and resonate.
Figure 1: aligning personal purpose to organizational purpose
Personal purpose
Why do you exist?
What do you hold dear?
What values do you live?
What causes do you support?
To win, start by defining your purpose as it guides your outlook, unlike vision which may change with your exposure, education, and new developments in your environment. Your purpose may not as it is usually informed by your upbringing, family, cultural and clan influence. For example, if you are a rights defender by nature due to your experiences from childhood, it is easy for such a profession to become your passion. It is from your passion that you defined your vision (where you want to be) and mission (how to get there).
You must have clarity of the difference between purpose and vision.
Organizational purpose
It is difficult to make an impact on working alone. Great leaders form winning organizations or join winning organizations. You must lookout for a company or entity with a purpose that resonates with yours. That way, you gain a personal alignment with your employer. If you are passionate about human rights causes, you may form an organization to offer free human rights defences or join one already doing the same.
Team purpose
When you join a company, you need to join a team of likeminded folks that share your passion. Join a team or form a team that aligns with your values and work ethic.
To accomplish, you need a team. But not just any team. You can start forming your team within the organization or join an existing one. However, for real team cohesion and impact, you must be able to fit in.
So, what is your purpose?
What is your team’s purpose?
What is your organizational purpose?
If you do not have them defined, chances that you are lost are high. If you have them defined, and understand them, chances that you are well aligned are high.
For guidance on how to find or define your organizational purpose or personal purpose, contact us.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved.
