These three fundamental inputs help build and scale successful, purpose-driven organizations.
By Chris Sullens
We all want to build a successful organization — one with a purpose that grows rapidly and profitably, produces highly differentiated and loved products, delights its employees and customers, and creates significant shareholder value. However, less than 10% of early-stage businesses succeed in achieving any of those outcomes. In my experience, the main reason businesses fail is that the leaders focus, sometimes to the point of obsession, on the outcomes rather than the inputs that drive those outcomes.
Successful leaders flip the script by relentlessly focusing on defining, nurturing, cultivating, and strengthening the inputs that they believe will yield the outcomes they desire. So, let’s delve into the three fundamental inputs that I’ve seen drive success in the organizations I’ve led and in others I admire.
The Mission: The North Star for Success
The cornerstone of any purpose-driven enterprise is a well-defined mission. Research cited by John Kotter and James Heskrett in their book, Corporate Culture and Performance, demonstrates that purpose-driven companies outperform their counterparts in stock price by a factor of 12. The mission statement is your North Star because it tells every stakeholder what strategies you will pursue and what you won’t. When I was a new CEO in my current and past organizations, my first order of business was to refine and solidify the mission because doing so informed the type of employees we would hire, investments we would make, and type of organization we sought to become.
Core Values: The Ethical Compass
Once the mission is solidified, clearly defining the core values is the next priority. Core values serve as the moral compass guiding an organization’s decisions and actions and is the input that drives the culture you build. It’s less about putting words on a wall and more about defining what type of people you want to hire, because who you hire drives the culture you create. Core values are not a one-size-fits-all proposition, but the components I’ve had success with revolve around operating with compassion and humility, doing the right thing, challenging the status quo, and winning and losing together.
The Big Four: The Input Framework Driving Operational Excellence
To ensure a relentless focus across the organization on the inputs, I’ve found success by creating a framework I refer to as the Big Four. Framing the key inputs into a short, digestible list, ensures alignment and accountability across the organization so that every initiative is aligned to an input, making long-term success more likely:
- Hire and develop great people.
- Build must-have products quickly.
- Turn customers and employees into raving fans.
- Continuously invest in process, systems, and infrastructure.
The Importance of Board Alignment and Over-Communication
While my organizations have never been perfect, they have experienced a significant amount of success across most of the outcome dimensions discussed here, which is directly attributable to a laser focus on the inputs. Once you’ve defined your mission, your core values, and your version of the Big Four, it can’t stop there. These inputs must remain a centerpiece of every story, every update, and every meeting to the point of feeling like you’re saying it too much. Remember, your team is hyper-focused on the day-to-day tasks necessary for the organization to achieve its mission, so it can be easy to lose sight of the why behind it all. Consistent reinforcement of the why and the how reminds them why they chose your organization and why they will continue to choose your organization going forward.
Finally, for those with a board of directors, I recommend including the board as you define and align on the inputs you believe will drive success. Then, organize your board updates around those inputs. Doing so will serve as a consistent reminder for the board and an accountability tool for your team, keeping everyone focused on cultivating and strengthening the inputs as you drive for the outcomes you desire.
