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Meet the MasterMinds: Roy Spence and Haley Rushing on Purpose

Roy Spence and Haley Rushing are coauthors of the bestseller, It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For. Spence is chairman and CEO of GSD&M Idea City, a marketing and advertising company. He and Rushing are also cofounders of the Purpose-Based Institute.

According to Spence and Rushing, high-performing organizations share a strong sense of purpose--the intent to make a difference in the world. We asked Spence and Rushing why purpose is so important to performance, and how organizations can identify, reclaim, or redefine their purpose.

McLaughlin: What inspired you to write this book now?

Spence: Actually, the real inspiration came a long time ago when we first started our business. We met some amazing purpose-based leaders when their companies were fairly small, including Herb Kelleher, Sam Walton, and the people at DreamWorks.

Then in 1991, I wrote a paper titled “What You Stand for Is Going to Be More Important than What You Sell.” That was based on indications that consumers were starting to gravitate toward companies that stood for something. In some cases, that was putting more effort into environmental issues or making sure the company didn’t use sweatshops.

That was early in this movement, but I believed that so many companies and products were going to become commodities that, at some point, the values and the purpose of the organization would become a critical decision factor for consumers.

McLaughlin: How is purpose different from the mission of an organization?

Rushing: Well, if you go by Peter Drucker’s definition, mission is a concise statement of purpose, so in that regard they’re very similar. But over the years, the concept of mission has become bankrupt. Clients often say they don’t need a purpose because they’ve got a mission statement.

Usually, organizations reduce their mission to such a general aspiration that it’s essentially meaningless.

Usually, organizations reduce their mission to such a general aspiration that it’s essentially meaningless. For example, some claim their mission is to be number one in their category, or number one in customer service.

We wanted to resuscitate purpose, which should be the fundamental reason--beyond making money--why your business exists. And we have reconceived mission as the way you’re going to accomplish your purpose. For instance, if the purpose of Southwest Airlines is to give people the freedom to fly, the company’s mission is to operate the lowest-cost airline so that it can offer low fares and frequent flights.

We augment purpose with vision. That is, here’s what the world will look like once you have fulfilled your purpose. In Southwest’s case, we envision a world in which everyone is free to take to the skies. So, your purpose is why you exist, your mission is how you’re going to fulfill that purpose, and your vision is what the world looks like once you’ve done that.

McLaughlin: Using that definition, if you look back over the past twenty years, do you think businesses have become more purpose-driven?

Spence: We can’t quantify the change, but my observation is that people are yearning for purpose, and not just in their private lives. They want purpose in their work.

I think that many of the companies in the news, including major banks, insurance companies, and car manufacturers, have lost or forgotten their purpose. Some of the big players lost their way and it’s costing this country dearly.

But don’t forget that 99.3 percent of all businesses in the US have less than 500 employees. Small businesses are the engine of our economy. And I think that most of the entrepreneurs and small business people want that purpose and understand why they get up and go to work every day.

Rushing: I’d just add that I think people are beginning to rethink the purpose of business in an exciting way. Business leaders are thinking about their principles and what they’re here to do. And that’s not in lieu of making money for their shareholders. I think there’s an emerging awareness that you can make money, make a difference, and serve everyone within your organization.

McLaughlin: Many businesses start with a purpose, which is often articulated by the founder. But over time, that purpose gets lost. What causes that disconnect?

Spence: When individuals start a business or found an organization, I think they do it out of passion and purpose. They might not be able to articulate what their purpose is but they know why they’re doing it.

That might be Sam Walton always saying we want to save people money so they can live better, or Chuck Schwab building an organization that is the relentless ally of the individual investor. But sometimes when you pass that torch, the fire goes out and it’s no one’s fault. Often, by the way, the torch doesn’t go out but gets buried under layers of bureaucracy or a progression of leaders trying to make their mark.

McLaughlin: If an organization’s sense of purpose dims or gets lost in the shuffle, how do you make a case for rediscovering that purpose to the people who have lost it?

Spence: Well, let’s look at the current reality. There is no question that consumers have closed their wallets for a whole host of reasons. I believe that the most compelling argument in favor of creating or rediscovering your purpose is that consumers are not going to spend their money on products and services unless they believe in the values of the company.

Profits will follow purpose, and that will drive performance.

With the constant buzz on social networking sites and the instant availability of information about everything, consumers can readily see what kind of companies they are dealing with. And this goes way beyond social responsibility, which is just an add-on. If your business, product, service, or your knowledge is not improving someone’s life, they don’t have time for you. They’re not going to spend their precious money on you.

That’s the compelling argument. Profits will follow purpose, and that will drive performance.

McLaughlin: Are you saying that businesses shouldn’t keep score based on profits?

Rushing: A company needs profits to stay alive and fuel its activities, of course, but that’s not why it exists. And purpose is inherently more inspiring to people than money.

A decade ago, Roy spoke to about 2,000 Wal*Mart managers. He pointed out that they were making a difference in people’s lives by offering products to everyone that were previously only accessible and affordable to wealthy people.

They offered the marketplace a good life for less. Every mother can send her kids to school with backpacks and good clothes, and you helped make that possible. And the people in that audience just lit up with a sense of pride. They were inspired to find more ways to lower costs to make things more accessible to the marketplace.

McLaughlin: For organizations that are already driven by a strong sense of purpose, what do you suggest to keep that purpose thriving?

Spence: You need purpose-based leadership. You can have the most purpose-based company but, if it’s not led by purpose-based leaders, that purpose can be lost in literally a nanosecond.

First, you’ve got to want to discover or rediscover your purpose, and you’ve got to articulate it in ways that people understand what difference you’re trying to make. The number one job of a purpose-based leader is to champion the words and the deeds.

Second, purpose-based leaders have to instinctively understand and practice the concepts Sun Tzu wrote about in The Art of War. Most people think that’s about how to win a war, which it’s not. The Art of War is about how to prevent a war. You have to know about yourself; you have to know about the competition; and you have to know about consumers.

The purpose-based leader is always in the business of protecting the troops. You don’t put them into situations where they can get slaughtered like Enron did. You don’t behave unethically and let the whole thing unravel.

Third, purpose-based leaders practice the Golden Rule. This is not a religious thing, although every religion in the world has a version of it. You treat people the way you want to be treated. Then the two other rules are: You fess up when you mess up; and you’ve got to dump the garbage. You can’t let yourself or your organization get bogged down in past envy or past defeats.

McLaughlin: One final question: If you could give executives just one piece of advice about the importance of purpose, what would it be?

Rushing: Right now, companies may not have huge salaries or bonuses to dangle in front of people to motivate them. I’m not sure that those have ever been the best motivators anyway. But I know for a fact that, when people get up and go to work, they want to put their time and talent into something they can believe in.

But I know for a fact that, when people get up and go to work, they want to put their time and talent into something they can believe in.

If you give people something they can believe in, that will keep them engaged and committed. And they will go the extra mile, even if you don’t have the resources to reward them.

Spence: The most compelling point is that purpose unquestionably drives performance. Purpose is the anchor and the North Star of an organization. The anchor keeps you stable while everybody else is rocking; when the seas become calm again, you have your North Star to guide you going forward. We think purpose will be the key driver of long-term performance over the next twenty years.

McLaughlin: Thanks to both of you for your time today.

You can find out more at www.itsnotwhatyousell.com and www.ideacity.com.