Surviving and recovering from the seismic market changes may have shifted your focus to a shorter time horizon. However, it’s still essential that the organizational priorities remain consistent in serving the organization’s purpose.
All stakeholders (employees, customers, investors) must know that your recovery strategy or change in direction isn’t reactionary but is grounded in your organization’s purpose.
It’s all about credibility and buy-in. Exceptional execution requires quality performance and team commitment, which is precisely why you need to take the time to reconnect to purpose.
Reconnect to Purpose
Has the market contraction or the impact of COVID-19 on your business caused you to pivot completely or materially change strategic priorities? If so, you’ll need to consider possible changes to the organization’s purpose or mission to maintain alignment.
Walking your team through any changes that have occurred and being completely transparent will fuel trust and credibility.
Now, if your purpose or mission remains unchanged, this is a perfect time to convey that message, as well. It’s an excellent opportunity to reinforce your mission and purpose and create coherence.
There’s so much power in understanding the “why.” It’s easy to overlook that when we’re in the middle of an economic retrench just trying to survive. But it’s more important than ever to take the time to remind everyone why we are working so hard.
There is no shortage of evidence-based research showing how organizational purpose/mission drives high-performance results, including financial, employee retention, and customer satisfaction.
The power of purpose is too significant to ignore. If you need help developing or realigning a purpose/mission, reach out to me, and I can work with you directly or recommend self-guided tools you can follow.
Align Strategic Priorities
Once you’ve communicated any evolution or refinements to your organizational purpose, show your teams how the focus few strategic initiatives of your simplified strategy connect specifically to your company’s mission.
Connect the dots explicitly.
You may think it’s obvious, but don’t make that mistake. It’s not, I promise you, so spell it out.
In this process:
- Show the organizational purpose before and after. Explain any changes, including what went into the decision-making process. Bring everyone along on the journey so that they have a better understanding of the changes.
- List out the strategic initiatives that will have the most substantial impact on the business.
- For each initiative, explain how it represents the best choice to serve your organization’s purpose over the near term.
If you’d like a copy of this template shown here, just send me a note in this contact form and I’ll be happy to send you one.
Strengthen Your Business Coexisting with COVID
In this training course, I’ll teach you my Return To Growth model to help you identify your highest ROI opportunities that leverage your existing capabilities and get laser-focused on what you need to do to put your business in the best position to return to growth and thrive as quickly as possible!
The organization’s purpose is essential during good times, but it’s arguably even more critical during times of turbulence and uncertainty when a compelling reason “why” is everything.
The power of a clear and meaningful “why” can unify a team and provide them with purpose. It can create a sense of belonging when isolation prevails.
Now is the perfect time to reconnect to purpose.
