Defining a Purpose, for Yourself, your Team or Organization; The Key to Achieving Success

In a world filled with tasks, deadlines, and ever-changing demands, it’s easy to get lost in the daily grind. While goals are important, the real key to achieving success lies in defining a clear purpose. Whether for yourself, your team, or your organization, a well-defined purpose is crucial to guiding meaningful transformation and long-term success. Purpose is the anchor that drives agility, resilience, and true leadership.

A strong purpose is especially critical when navigating challenges like business agility, transformation, or servant leadership. These approaches require a deeper understanding of why you’re making changes or setting goals, rather than simply focusing on results. As I’ve written in my previous blogs on business agility and servant leadership, a clear purpose not only fuels innovation but also ensures that you remain focused on delivering real value to customers and teams, rather than just hitting targets.

As explored in my previous post on business agility, the ability to adapt quickly in today’s market is driven by a clear purpose, ensuring your team remains flexible while staying aligned with long-term objectives. Just like in servant leadership, where the leader’s purpose is to serve and elevate their team, defining a purpose for your team can create a foundation for true collaboration and growth. When it comes to organizational transformation, purpose acts as the compass, keeping the team on course amidst the complexity and rapid changes often encountered during transformation efforts.”

But there’s a key distinction we need to understand: goals and purpose are not the same. Goals are specific, measurable achievements we set along the way. Purpose, on the other hand, is the reason we set those goals in the first place. It’s the “why” behind everything we do. Without purpose, goals can feel hollow and disconnected, but when aligned with a clear purpose, goals become powerful milestones on a meaningful journey.

Let’s dive deeper into how defining a strong purpose – for yourself, your team, or your organization – can unlock the door to lasting success.

Purpose vs. Goals: Understanding the Difference

Before we explore purpose in action, let’s clarify the difference between purpose and goals.

• Purpose is your reason for being. It’s your core motivation, the driving force behind what you do. Purpose is broad and long-term, shaping every decision and action you take.

• Goals are the specific targets you aim to achieve. They are measurable and time-bound steps that guide you along the way toward fulfilling your purpose.

For example, let’s say your purpose as an organization is to improve healthcare accessibility for underserved populations. One of your goals could be to increase patient enrolment in a new health program by 20% over the next year. The purpose answers “why” you’re doing it, and the goal defines “what” you need to do to make that purpose a reality.

Purpose for Individuals: Discovering Your Why

On a personal level, defining your purpose starts with self-awareness and reflection. Understanding what drives you, what you value, and how you want to make a difference sets the foundation for your goals and actions.

When I worked in multinational corporations, I had goals that I worked toward – launching products, growing business units, and hitting targets. But over time, I felt a disconnect. Although I was achieving my goals, I lacked a sense of fulfilment. It wasn’t until I took a step back and focused on my purpose that everything changed. My purpose became clear: helping organizations create better, happier workplaces where people thrive. With this purpose in mind, I started setting new goals that aligned with my values and strengths.

The key takeaway here? Purpose is your long-term guide; goals are the actionable steps you take to realize it.

Purpose for Teams: Uniting Strengths Around a Common Why

When it comes to teams, purpose is even more essential. Without a shared purpose, teams can end up working in silos, focusing on individual goals without aligning their efforts toward a collective outcome. A clear team purpose unites everyone’s strengths, keeps collaboration focused, and creates momentum toward a common objective.

Let me share an example from a sales leadership team I worked with. Initially, the team’s focus was entirely on hitting sales targets – they had goals, but no unifying purpose. The shift came when we worked together to define a new purpose: delivering customer value. By understanding why they were working together, the team could align their goals with this broader purpose. It wasn’t just about hitting numbers anymore; it became about serving customers in a meaningful way.

We used a purpose discovery exercise inspired by Simon Sinek, where the team asked themselves, “Why do we exist as a team?” This clarified their purpose and helped them set goals that aligned with this new, shared direction.

Purpose for Organizations: The Long-Term Vision for Success

For organizations, purpose plays a crucial role in long-term success. While goals might change frequently as market conditions evolve, purpose remains the guiding star that ensures all decisions and strategies are aligned with the organization’s core mission.

An example from my own experience highlights this well. In the pharmaceutical industry, we once launched a patient support program with the goal of enrolling a high number of patients. But the program wasn’t successful because it lacked a purpose that truly resonated with patients and healthcare providers. The team was so focused on goals (enrollment numbers) that they overlooked the purpose: creating value for patients.

When we reframed the program’s purpose – to provide real support that met patients’ needs – everything changed. Our goal of increasing enrollment became secondary to our purpose of improving patient care, and as a result, the program became much more impactful and successful.

This experience taught me that purpose is what keeps an organization resilient and adaptable. Goals may need to shift, but when you have a clear purpose, you stay grounded even in times of change.

How to Define Purpose at Every Level

Whether you’re defining purpose for yourself, your team, or your organization, the process starts by asking three key questions:

1. Why do I (or we) exist?

2. What value do I (or we) want to create?

3. How do I (or we) want to impact the world (or our customers, employees, etc.)?

For individuals, this may be a personal reflection exercise. For teams, it might involve collaborative workshops where you align on a shared purpose. For organizations, leadership should ensure that the company’s purpose is clearly communicated and woven into every strategy, decision, and goal.

Bringing Purpose and Goals Together: The Winning Formula

Now that we’ve explored the difference between purpose and goals, here’s the key to lasting success: your purpose defines the long-term direction, while your goals are the short-term steps that help you achieve it.

For individuals, purpose gives your career and life meaning beyond ticking off achievements. For teams, it aligns everyone’s efforts toward a meaningful impact. For organizations, purpose provides the resilience to adapt and innovate while staying true to your mission.

Conclusion: Purpose is the North Star, Goals are the Milestones

In a world that demands agility and adaptability, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. But when you define a clear purpose – for yourself, your team, or your organization – you have a guiding star that keeps you focused on what truly matters.

Remember: goals are the milestones, but purpose is the destination. Define your purpose first, and your goals will naturally follow. Together, they form the roadmap to success.

We can help accompany you and your team leaders in developing these skills and behaviours. If you want to know more, don’t hesitate to contact us!