Did you brush your teeth today? I’m assuming if you haven’t yet, that you intend to at some point. I’m also guessing that you did it yesterday and will do it tomorrow, too.
The vast majority of Americans brush their teeth every single day. Why? Probably because it’s a part of our routine and we barely even think about it. But beneath that, it’s because we believe it’s good for our dental hygiene. We believe it’s good for our breath. And we believe it’s good for the longevity of our original teeth.
Belief drives action.
If tomorrow, scientists published a study that showed that brushing your teeth was in fact carcinogenic, you may pause before reaching for the brush. If evidence built, and more and more people believed that daily teeth-brushing could cause cancer, fewer and fewer people would brush their teeth every day.
Belief drives action.
Whether an individual or an organization, what we believe fuels our actions. An organization’s purpose statement is an announcement of what you believe. It’s an essential part of your core identity as an organization.
When you have a powerful purpose statement – when you put your beliefs into words and shout them out loud and clear – you move your audiences to take action too.
THE POWER OF A PURPOSE STATEMENT
Effective changemakers understand their why, their goals, and who they’re trying to reach – and tell impactful stories driven by all three. In order to motivate people to support your work, they need to understand why you do it.
That’s where your purpose statement comes in. This is the statement that captures your why. It is the thing that says: this is the way we want the world to be. This is how we believe it should be. It articulates in a short string of words what your core motivation is for doing what you do day in, day out.
Remembering that belief drives action, the power of the purpose statement is unlimited. Big purpose statements allow big things to happen. They paint a picture of what is possible, and inspire people to bring it to life.
Here are a few of my favorite purpose statements:
- IKEA: To create a better everyday life for the many people.
- Apple: To make the best products on earth, and to leave the world better than we found it.
- New Pathways for Youth: Every young person can live their life with joy and purpose, confident in their ability to decide their own path.
- UMOM New Day Centers: We believe every person deserves the dignity of a safe, stable place to call home.
- Western Resource Advocates: Harmony and hope in the Interior West.
Javelina’s purpose is to build an equitable and kind world. This is why we exist. It’s why we all bother to show up for work every day. It’s why we choose this work – developing and telling stories that create social, political, and economic change – over all the other things we could be doing. And like the powerful purpose statements we encapsulate for our clients, it took time and intentional thought to develop.
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR PURPOSE STATEMENT PACKS A PUNCH
A powerful purpose:
- Captures why you do what you do
- Paints a picture of the world you are creating
- Is created collaboratively with your team
- Is referred to regularly – everyone should be able to recite it by heart
- Sounds audacious – we’re dreaming big here
- Beyond money – it’s not about dollars and cents, but about impact
You may have a purpose statement already. If so, does it meet all of these criteria? If not – or if it was written over a decade ago – it could probably use a tune-up. This doesn’t mean you need to start again. But some collaborative brainstorming with your team can lead to a much stronger purpose that gets both your team and your audiences excited – and drives them to action.
Whether you’re conducting a bit of a purpose-revamp or starting from scratch, here’s how to craft a statement that will move your audiences.
HOW TO CAPTURE YOUR PURPOSE STATEMENT
We talk about “capturing” your purpose statement rather than “creating” it, because your purpose is something that already exists. The reason you do what you do is baked into the fibers of your organization already – developing a purpose statement is about digging in to find it and articulating it as succinctly and accurately as possible.
How do you do that? We find that the best way to dig beneath the surface and discover your true purpose is through an activity we call the End-State.
The End-State
First, assemble your team. Depending on the size of your team, this might be your leadership, your full team, or you and some trusted advisors. Between four and eight people makes for an ideal sized group for brainstorming and throwing ideas around. If you’re a solopreneur, find two or three trusted advisors to help out – having people to bounce your ideas off of gets the creative juices flowing.
As a group, discuss the following question: What does the world look like when there’s no longer a reason for our organization to exist?
Why this question? Remember, your purpose statement should capture the world you are trying to build. This is the end-state; it’s what the world looks like when all of your work is done, and you’ve achieved everything you set out to do. When you’ve captured this, you’ve captured the fundamental belief that drives all of your actions – how you believe the world should be.
With your team, take turns describing:
- What you see in the end-state. When you look around, what do you see? This could be people coming together, animals living in their natural habitats, a cleaner environment – whatever you would see when your work is finished.
- What you hear in the end-state. What are people saying? What noises do you hear around you? Is it loud with the sounds of talking and laughter? Is it quiet and peaceful?
- What you feel in the end-state. What emotions are you feeling? What are others around you feeling? This could be joy, optimism, safety, relief – anything.
You can of course tweak or switch up these questions to relate to your specific work, but the idea is that you want your questions to enable big picture thinking. Think beyond what you do on a daily basis or the current problems you face – what is the ultimate outcome you’re trying to achieve?
Write the answers you come up with on post-it notes and stick them to the wall, or type them out on a shared screen. From there, group similar ideas and find the key themes – then, have the writers on your team start to develop a purpose statement that captures those themes. When drafting, think about the most important elements that must be included. Remember: this statement should paint a picture of the world you’re building, so that your audiences can visualize that world – and picture themselves in it.
SOME FINAL WORDS OF ADVICE
Like every important thing, crafting your purpose statement isn’t easy, but here are our final tips to make the process easier – and the end result more powerful:
- Be patient. It is much better to do this well rather than quickly. If it takes two or three or even four attempts, that’s okay. The time you put in will pay dividends in the final product you create.
- Capture the essence first – wordsmith later. This is where many groups get caught up – you go down a rabbit hole over specific word choice and before you know it time is up and tempers are flared. Start off by getting to the core of what you want to communicate, and then spend time tweaking words later. Don’t feel like you have to wordsmith as a group – pick the members of the team whose strengths lie in language and writing to generate a few suggestions that the whole group can respond to.
- You’ll know when you have the right statement. It’s like the first time you see a shooting star. You just know. If the draft you’re working on doesn’t make your heart skip a beat, keep going. It’ll be worth it.
- Integrate it into your daily work. Having put all this time and energy into developing your purpose, don’t just now slap it on your website and move on. A purpose only does its job when it’s at the heart of your daily work. Find ways to refer back to and be inspired by your purpose on a regular basis.
Establishing a strong purpose statement is the first essential step toward changing the world. When it’s clear why you do the work you do, your audiences will join you – making even the most daunting challenges that much easier.