Have you completed the first four modules? Follow these links to complete Module 1, Module 2, Module 3, and Module 4.
Leading with Mission and Purpose
In module 4, Leading Remote Teams, we spent some time looking at how we can best lead our teams both in a face-to-face and dispersed settings. A very important part of leadership is aligning our teams to a common purpose, ensuring that all team members are aligned and oriented to the purpose for which our team exists, and the overall mission of our organisation.
This is where leaders can face challenges – how do we ensure that we give time to everything that needs to be done, as well as have time for the bigger conversations about mission, purpose, vision, values, goals, strategy? There is so much to give attention to, much of which is urgent and time bound. How on earth can we add something else to an already over-full load on the team?
In order to answer this, we will need to take a step back to the focus of module 1, our own self-leadership. John Maxwell, in The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader says that “everything rises and falls on leadership” - so, how well do we know our own purpose as leaders? How well are we aligned to the mission, vision and values of the organisation we serve? And how does my leadership of my team progress the mission, realise the vision and represent the values of my organisation?
After all – leadership is about progressing something. If we are going nowhere, and nothing much is changing, then we are more managing than leading. True leaders, however, regardless of where in the organisation they are placed:
- keep their focus firmly on the mission
- keep their eyes on the vision
- uphold organisational values
- ensure that everything they do progresses further towards what the organisation is endeavouring to achieve
- know how to make important connections between the work of the team and the purpose of the organisation
- never stray from their values in pursuing their mission and fulfilling their vision
For instance – if I lead a team of cleaners in an office situation, and the organisation I work for is all about charitable work amongst the poor and needy, then I lead a team of people who cooperate in progressing the mission of the organisation. If I lead a team of people who sort second-hand clothing for resale, for an organisation that serves the local community in a variety of ways, I lead a team of people who are progressing the mission of the organisation. As a leader, I need to be sure of what I do, why I do it, and how it fits in to the larger organisation’s mission and purpose.
Consider the following mission statements from some well-known companies:
Starbucks: to inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.
Coca-Cola: to refresh the world and inspire moments of optimism and happiness, while creating value for shareowners and making a difference across the globe.
Microsoft: to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We strive to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world.
The Salvation Army: The Salvation Army Australia is a Christian movement dedicated to sharing the love of Jesus. We share the love of Jesus by: Caring for people, Creating faith pathways, Building healthy communities, Working for justice
A barista’s purpose at Starbucks is to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.
A human resources admin clerk at Coca-Cola’s purpose is to refresh the world and inspire moments of optimism and happiness, while creating value for shareowners and making a difference across the globe.
A cleaner at Microsoft’s purpose is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more, striving to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world.
An accountant at The Salvation Army’s purpose is to share the love of Jesus by caring for people, creating faith pathways, building healthy communities and working for justice
You get the idea, right? No matter who you are, or what team you lead – your purpose is to progress the mission of the organisation you serve.
Healthy and effective leaders keep their focus on the mission and know how to align what their team does with the bigger picture story of the purpose of the organisation.
Helping our teams stay aligned to purpose and mission
Simon Sinek has provided some helpful insights into leadership in his range of writings about concerning leadership, for example Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last
In the following clip, Sinek provides some helpful insight into the idea of WHY, using his concept of ‘The Golden Circle’:
David Kovacovich, in his article Leading With Purpose, provides helpful practical insight for leaders regarding Sinek’s model. David suggests that leaders should:
“Review the Mission, Vision and Values of your organization with your team at your next meeting. Ask them what these principles mean to their work. Help them understand that they are all part of something bigger and that together their power is much more mighty….and mean it when you say it!”
The following marketing clip from the company Parker, explores their purpose, and suggests that their purpose helps them better understand themselves, and the unique role they play in people’s everyday lives, speaking to why they matter, and making the world a better place:
In this clip, you will have heard the question: “So how do we bring our purpose to life?” Their answer is “by tapping into our passion to make a meaningful impact on the future.”
What a great question for leaders everywhere!
1. In what ways will you continue to bring the purpose of your organisation to life – regardless of what team you lead?
2. What am I doing proactively to keep the vision and mission at front of mind in my team?
3. Do I proactively and often assist my team members in connecting their work and service to the greater mission?
4. How can I ensure that my team is focused on the vision and mission of our organisation?
Parker’s response to their question is all about passion that impacts the future. That’s a lot what leadership is all about – knowing not only your own personal passions, but the passions of the organisation you work for, and aligning ourselves and our teams to make an impact on the future. Leadership is about moving towards something. It’s about changing the status quo. It’s about working proactively to realise the mission and vision. If we are doing that, we are not staying put – we are changing.
Strategic Leadership
Leaders who are focused on the mission and vision of their organization are strategists. They are continually thinking about how they can make the most of the priorities of the organization while supporting their teams effectively. They continually make connections between the bigger picture story (strategy) and the details (operations). Strategic leaders take a step onto to balcony to see a wider view. They ensure that they make time to think bigger and wider, finding ways to make the necessary connections between what their teams do, and what the organization is focused on. And they are able to see when things don’t align, and take steps to change course when necessary.
Shoemaker, Krupp & Howland (2013) in their Harvard Business Review article Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills, highlight the following necessary capabilities for leaders who are strategically aligned to mission and purpose:
• Anticipate threats and opportunities, understanding the challenges
• Challenge the status quo – including your own assumptions as well as others’, encouraging divergent points of view
• Interpret information into practical steps, looking for what’s missing and seeking out what is needed from both a micro and macro perspective
• Decide – especially when decisions are difficult to make, seeking out necessary information to make the required decisions
• Align by making connections and communicating with other teams, with the bigger purpose, and within your team
• Learn – strategic leaders are first and foremost learners. They are always looking for ways to develop themselves and their teams, creating healthy learning cultures where mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn something
At the end of this article, you have the opportunity for a self-assessment on your strategic leadership capabilities.
We began this module asking how leaders are able to give time to both the operational, day-to-day work as well as giving attention to alignment with purpose and mission. The short, and not-so-simple answer is that it is an ongoing complex juggle of making time for both. We have begun to explore how, to lead effectively, we need to be focused on the purpose and mission of the organization we serve. This brings challenges in itself, including how we have the conversations around alignment, and how we take into consideration the diversity of the perspectives of the people in our team when we seek to bring alignment to the mission and vision. Our next module, Communication and Conflict will explore how we can tackle conflict, knowing that not only is conflict a natural outcome of people working together, but it is something that leaders invite and deal with in a healthy manner.
I think one of the most remarkable things that Jesus accomplished during his ministry here on earth – aside from redeeming the whole world - was to take a motley crew of people and transform them into a team aligned with purpose. If I were to be asked to gather around me 12 people who would take a message into the whole world, to transform the world, I don’t think I’d choose the people Jesus chose: people in the fishing industry, a tax collector, a person engaged in political anarchy, a thief… I think I’d choose people who were educated, well-connected, strategic, world-changers.
And yet these are the people Jesus chose, and spent 3 years preparing them to take the most important message out into the world, to transform the world in ways that had never been done before. There might be times that leaders wonder how we can bring about the mission and realise the vision with the group of eclectic people that we have been given responsibility to serve. Sometimes we wonder how it can all happen. But we see Jesus taking a group of unaligned people, mentoring them, teaching them, supporting them, believing in them, and then charging them with the mission for the whole world – to make disciples of all people (Matthew 28:19). A disciple is essentially a learner, someone who continues to grow, ask questions and develop, someone who will not be content to hold a set of beliefs without continuing to question how those beliefs progress the mission. May our leadership assist others to ask questions, to learn, to grow, to develop – so that the mission of the gospel will be fulfilled.
Additional Resources
Steenbarger, Brett. (2015) Mission-Based Management: The Leadership of Purpose Forbes, July 19, 2015
Craig, Nick (2018) Do You Lead With Purpose? Podcast, Wharton University of Pennsylvania, September 26, 2018
Nick Craig on the Power of Leading from Purpose Core Leadership Institute
Craig, Nick & Snoot, Scott (2014) From Purpose to Impact. Harvard Business Review, May 2014
Craig, Nick (2018) Leading From Purpose: Clarity and the Confidence to Act When It Matters Most. John Murray Press, London
Maxwell, J. (1999) The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow. Thomas Nelson, Nashville.
Sinek, Simon (2009) Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Penguin Portfolio, London
Sinek, Simon (2014) Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t. Penguin Portfolio, London
Edge, Lynette and Morgan, Gregory (2017) Partnering With God: Being a Missional Salvationist Wipf & Stock, Eugene, Oregon
Kise, Jane (2013) Intentional Leadership: 12 Lenses for Focusing Strengths, Managing Weaknesses, and Achieving Your Purpose, Allworth Press, NY