Navigating Company, Team and Individual Purpose: Prioritising and Rediscovering Your True Direction

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited the NASA Space Center. As he made his way down the line of people excited to see him, he came across a gentleman in overalls. He asked, “So, what do you do here at the Space Center?” The man, holding a broom, replied, “I’m helping to put a man on the moon.”
This is a great example of a common shared goal and how it motivates everyone, from the person in the shuttle to the person cleaning the corridor. Seven years later, they did put a man on the moon. So, having a purpose is like putting a flag on a hill that everyone can see. If you imagine working at your job day in and day out, it’s like making your way through a jungle with a machete, hacking through dense vegetation, surrounded by strange insects. A flag on the hill is like climbing a tree to look around the horizon, seeing that flag, and saying, “This is where we’re going.” It resets your focus and purpose.
The goal of this talk is to either find or create that purpose. When I say "find," it could mean that your company already has one, and it’s worth trying to unearth it. When I say "create," it might mean that, as a team member, your team needs a purpose. We’ll look at the benefits of having a purpose and the power it can have for an individual.
I’m sure you’ve heard this all before—like when you're in a presentation and someone says, "We’re here to inspire human progress through the power of communication," and you might think it’s corporate nonsense. In some cases, purpose statements are too aspirational or aren’t lived by the company, or they're applied selectively. This can be a symptom of the company not “climbing that tree” often enough to remind people of why they exist. For example, if a company starts charging extra fees for things that don’t provide value, they might ask, “Is this really what we should be doing?”
Having a purpose is fantastic for focus, as we’ll see in a moment. It might also be a symptom that the company isn’t held accountable to its purpose often enough. It’s vital for everyone to be aware of the purpose statement.
The power of purpose is real. One of the main things it enables is focus. Steve Jobs always said he knew the 1,000 things to ignore and the three things to focus on, and look where it got him. It also provides motivation. If everyone believes we’re going to put a man on the moon, it motivates everyone, from the astronaut to the janitor at the Space Center.
A purpose can also attract customers, investors, and employees. As Simon Sinek famously said, people buy why you do something, not just what you do. We see this with Generation Z, who are motivated by why you do what you do and the values embedded in your products, services, and customer treatment.
A purpose also gives a license to innovate. Within the text of a purpose statement, there can be nuances that allow designers and developers to find creative ways to reach that flag on the hill. Finally, there’s the business impact. According to the Harvard Business Review, purpose-driven companies perform 5-7% better than others and grow faster. So, the power of purpose is real—for a company, a team, and an individual.
I’ve mentioned purpose, vision, and mission, and you might wonder about the differences. While I get confused too, they all contribute to an ambition statement—a flag on the hill that everyone can see and work toward. Good purpose statements are created inclusively, so people have a chance to contribute, like in good design practice. They aren’t just imposed; people are aware of them. Effective purpose statements are concise, descriptive, inspiring, and memorable.
Mantras are effective in communicating what people need to remember in a company or team. Purpose statements should be authentic, relevant, and adaptable to shifts in business culture or socioeconomic changes. Most importantly, they work when they’re cascaded through the company to the individual level. Let’s look at some examples.
Patagonia: Does anyone here own any Patagonia attire? Patagonia’s purpose is, “We’re in business to save our home planet.” This translates into sustainability being woven into all their activities. For example, their garment labels encourage customers to repair items rather than buy new ones. This commitment sets them apart in a crowded market and has impacted their business; the University of Michigan reports that Patagonia’s sales have quadrupled over the past ten years, partly due to this ambition.
Dublin Bus: Dublin’s primary public transport provider states values around connectivity, sustainability, and safety, and their slogan is “Every Journey Matters.” However, it’s clear that not everyone is on board with this mantra. Customer satisfaction statistics on their website are fair, but there’s a problem when buses are late or don’t show up at all. If drivers are told not to fix a broken mirror and instead wait for maintenance, causing delays, it’s clear that not everyone has embraced “Every Journey Matters.” Imagine a student waiting in the rain for an exam or someone trying to get to the hospital. For them, every journey truly matters, and this is an example of a message not cascading effectively.
Hershey's: Up to 2007, Hershey’s focus was on marketplace dominance, growth, and profit, particularly in the USA. But in 2007, they had a “road to Damascus” moment and changed their purpose to “bringing moments of Hershey’s happiness to the world.” Since then, they’ve focused on inclusivity, sustainability, and respect for business ethics, expanded into healthier snacks, and emphasized premium chocolate with better margins. Hershey’s has also gone global and turned around to great effect.
WeWork: Initially, WeWork aimed to provide flexible co-working spaces to startups, freelancers, and small businesses, emphasizing collaboration and flexibility. However, they eventually began seeing themselves as a major real estate company, investing in premium locations, diversifying into co-living and education, and burning through cash. This led to a poorly planned IPO that ultimately failed, highlighting what can happen when a company loses sight of its purpose.
An Post: Ireland’s national postal service, An Post, has been around since the 1920s. Up to 2017, it was seen as a traditional, outdated organization, posting losses of €12 million. However, just two years later, they posted a profit of €40 million. What changed? New leadership, under CEO David McRedmond, and a new purpose: “We exist to improve the quality of life for people in Ireland, now and for generations to come.” McRedmond explained that this purpose involves providing accessible financial services on the high street as banks close in rural areas. It also means innovating with products like the world’s first trackable digital stamp and focusing on e-commerce fulfillment.
After a conference, I asked David if this purpose was truly pervasive at An Post, or if it was just something they say at conferences. He assured me that it’s frequently mentioned and that everyone in the company knows about it. It’s a real flag on the hill.
To cascade purpose effectively, one of the keys is frequency and recency. The more frequently and recently people hear something, the more likely they are to remember it and apply it. Managers need to be trained to communicate purpose, and it should be infused throughout onboarding and training. Writing it on the wall is effective too. I used to work for Vodafone over a decade ago, and I still remember two of their mantras: “Speed, Simplicity, and Trust,” and “Restless, Rock Solid, and Red.” These values stayed with me because they were prominently displayed and frequently reinforced.
So, we’ve seen the importance of purpose for a company. But what about you as an individual? There are benefits to having a purpose as an individual or a team, such as focus, motivation, and innovation. If your team doesn’t have a purpose, maybe that’s an exercise you could do together. When I was head of digital design at Smartbox, I had a slide about our design team’s purpose: “To create commercially effective products that are a delight to use, bring the company closer to the customer, and communicate our impact.” This purpose was helpful, especially in a market where designers need to prove their value.
If your team lacks a purpose statement, consider creating one—it could be a meaningful exercise. And as for yourself as an individual, this isn’t self-help, but having a personal purpose statement can be beneficial too. In preparation for this talk, I asked a friend, "Jen," to try creating a purpose statement. She’s 50, with two kids, a mortgage, and aging parents, and she’s understandably concerned about the cost of living and world events. After some thought, she came up with: “To enhance the quality of life for my family and community, navigating challenges with positivity and resilience.”
We went through it, discussing specifics like “quality of life,” and she refined it to include self-care and resilience. Now her statement reads: “To enhance the quality of life for myself, my family, and my community, navigating the challenges of today with positivity and resilience.” She even wrote it on a piece of cardboard, which she keeps in her wallet as a reminder.
To recap, we’re talking about finding or creating purpose, which has benefits for your company, team, and yourself. Try to find your company’s purpose statement or consider creating one with your team. And as for yourself, maybe take a moment to define your own purpose—it can help you stay focused and make more meaningful decisions.
Please connect with me on LinkedIn, and if you want to share your personal statement, I’d be happy to take a look.
[Applause]
Moderator: Stay here. Thank you, Frank—great storytelling! We have some questions for you.
Audience Question: What is the difference between purpose, vision, mission, strategy, and goal?
Frank: Purpose is why you exist as a company. Vision is the long-term aim of where you want to go. Mission is about the short-term goals that get you to that vision. Values are how you go about doing all of that. So, there is a difference, but it can get confusing. Ultimately, the importance lies in having an ambition statement that summarizes these elements.
Audience Question: For many ground workers, it’s hard to connect with a company’s big mission. Can there be a small purpose?
Frank: Absolutely. You can interpret the overarching mission and apply it to your own realm. At Smartbox, our purpose is to inspire people to experience life. We’ve interpreted this in different ways, like inspiring people through the design of our beneficiary experience—how users interact with our products.
Audience Question: How do you go about defining your personal purpose? Any process?
Frank: It’s similar to design thinking. You go through a discovery phase to find examples, then sit down and workshop ideas with yourself as the stakeholder. Think about what’s important to you, what you’d miss if it weren’t accessible, and translate those into a statement. Purpose statements are often nuanced and can cover a variety of personal goals.
Audience Question: Who should set the purpose in a startup?
Frank: Ideally, senior management, but anyone can initiate it. If your organization lacks a purpose, bring it up. Try a grassroots workshop to see what people think and use that to influence higher-ups.
Moderator: How do you translate a company’s purpose to day-to-day work?
Frank: Interpret the purpose statement’s nuances within your control. At Smartbox, we took “inspire people to experience life” and looked at how our UX could inspire buyers to engage with our experiences. It’s about translating that larger purpose into the context of your role.
Audience Question: Why did NASA succeed with their mission, but Dublin Bus struggles?
Frank: It’s about cascading the mission and involving all stakeholders, including partners like unions, in the vision. For NASA, everyone bought into the goal, whereas Dublin Bus needs broader buy-in to deliver on “Every Journey Matters.”
Moderator: Thank you very much, Frank! Fantastic presentation.