If your company is a purpose-driven business with an onboarded team 1,000% dedicated to your mission and knowledgeable about how to implement it in every aspect of work, kudos to you. Not all businesses are so well-equipped and ready to pair passion with purpose and do it successfully. Some businesses have been attempting it, or talking about it, for a long time, while others are new to the scene.

There are 4 types of businesses who might be in the process of considering integrating a purpose or mission:

• Startups who want to get it right from the beginning. These are new companies often begun by leaders with ideals who are well-aware of the need for a well-implemented purpose for both their growing team and their customers. They understand the value of a values-driven company and they have set their sights on the highest levels of transparency and accountability. These company founders have thought it through and probably witnessed commercialism their whole lives and are determined to make a positive impact.
• Established purpose-driven companies who need a fresh plan. These leaders recognize that something in the way they communicate their values either to their team or to their customers is not working anymore. They’ve long held their values but they’re ready for a make-over, a fresh plan that will galvanize their team and provide a fresh image to their clientele.
• Established companies who are shifting and adapting to a changing market. They’re realizing that the product or service they provided for so long is no longer viable or correct. They recognize the need for changing their entire product line. With this type of company, I think of gasoline stations or tobacco growers. The market has shifted so dramatically that not only are their products declining in demand but they may be declining in perceived ethical value, as well.
• Established companies such as heritage or family businesses who have operated one way for so long they’ve entrenched themselves in a profit-generating mindset. Now, their stakeholders (perhaps their customers, vendors or employees) are convincing them that it is time to “wake up” and embrace a purpose that is broader and wider than their widget. The next generation may be influencing the older standard-bearers to integrate environmental or social conscience into their operating procedures.

Even companies who have an idea of what they value may not have the capacity or skill to implement it throughout their business. This is where a purpose consultant comes in: to assess and help redirect so that everyone on the team is well-equipped, ready, and excited about the company’s new direction.

A vibrant and earnest Company Culture is vital to a long-lasting business, where purpose is deeply rooted in a meaningful activity. This develops team members into company ambassadors who rally behind the company's mission because they are central to the core purpose, and they know it.

Which kind of company are you?