Scaling With Purpose Kit: What Is Purpose and Why It Matters in Business

**SPEAKER_1** (0:03)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:17)
Welcome to the show. This is our new series, Scaling with Purpose. I'm Stephen Sakach here with Tullio Siragusa.

**Tullio Siragusa** (0:25)
I'm excited to start our new series today.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:28)
So today we're diving in to the first episode of the series, which is What is Purpose and Why It Matters in Business. And let's just get started, Tullio. We're trying to do this in like 10 minutes or so, so you can have a nice bite-sized podcast wherever you're at. So-

**Tullio Siragusa** (0:45)
It's faster than waiting at Starbucks for a coffee.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:48)
You can listen to it all.
So Purpose of the Word, we hear often in business world these days, which is great. But what does it actually mean? And why is it so important to modern organizations? So in today's episodes, we're going to unpack these questions and set the stage for the rest of this series, where we'll explore practical ways to embed this purpose into every part of your business. So let's begin with a simple definition. Richard Lader, he's a leading voice on purpose. He describes it as the deepest dimension within us, our core reason for being in a business context. Purpose goes beyond traditional mission and vision statement. So you might be thinking, oh, kind of like a mission statement. No, it's a little bit different. It's not just about what we do or how we do it. It's about the why, why we exist as an organization in the first place. And I do think when people hear of a purpose-driven business, they think of a business maybe that is tied to a charity or a cause, like the environment, for example. And maybe that stops them from pursuing it a little bit further because they don't have that charity or cause. But it can be like that, but it doesn't have to. So a restaurant's purpose can be to involve bringing families together and to connect over a healthy meal or something like that, which is not necessarily like a charity. So it doesn't have to be that charity or cause that I think a lot of people got familiar with when thinking about purpose-driven businesses. So these types of businesses, their core reason for being is to guide decision-making, shape culture, and drive long-term growth. Growth, it's about making an impact that goes beyond profits. Contribute positively to society, your employees, your customers, all stakeholders in business. We talk about this a lot in Conscious Capitalism. The book, The Power of Purpose by Later, it explains that when companies define their true purpose, they unlock greater levels of meaning, motivation, and fulfillment for their people.
But why does this matter in today's business environment? By the time we're done with this series, we will have covered a lot and we'll have a lot of data backing the importance of finding your higher purpose and optimizing around it. Tullio, let's get to what are some key reasons why purpose is critical for modern organizations?

**Tullio Siragusa** (3:36)
Absolutely. As always, we don't just give the value from a human standpoint, that being important, we always provide data, the data that's backing the purpose, the reason behind why this is important. So for example, first of all, purpose helps differentiate a brand, especially in a credit marketplace, where products and services often feel interchangeable. It feels very much like it's another company that has the same thing, just a different color, so to speak. So having an authentic and clear purpose can set a brand apart, making it more memorable, and customers will connect to the desire just for that, not just to have a transaction, but to feel good about the transaction they're made, because we're all ultimately looking for connection. So, and in fact, here's some interesting stats. A study by Deloitte said that companies with a strong sense of purpose are 30% more likely to innovate successfully. And so, it's not just a nice to have, it's really a strategic advantage. The other thing it does is it really engages the employees.
And we've talked about this before, where people need to have a feeling that they belong to something greater than themselves, what they're doing has meaning, they have the ability to make an impact, and they have the ability to grow. So when a company connects to a purpose, it motivates employees with a higher level of satisfaction. In fact, research shows that 73% of employees who work at purpose-driven companies feel more engaged in their work compared to just 23% of companies that don't prioritize purpose. So all those companies that historically in the past few years have complained about 80% disengagement, these stats support those numbers, you know. So you're likely to have disengaged employees if you don't have a purpose-driven type of business. So that's an important part of attracting and retaining the best talent. And then lastly, you know, purpose inspires resilience, right? When things get difficult, when the markets change and you have to pivot, the drive to continue to fulfill a purpose you've committed to is much stronger in everyone involved than just turning the corner, so to speak. You know, you'll often hear a company turning the corner financially. Well, that's nice and that's good and that's important. But with purpose, it's not just about turning the corner, it's about following through on a commitment. It's got a deeper level of organizational alignment that takes place. Because people are working with intentionality, not just about turning the corner. So it's a very powerful and strategically important thing for organizations to adopt, a purpose that gives meaning to what people are doing, and what they're doing in the marketplace.