Deep down, our core values will always guide and drive our purpose, our behaviours and the way we engage with the world in both our professional and personal lives. But what is the most compelling, what makes things exciting is that we bring new value, we find new ways to contribute to that purpose as we grow older, wiser, or opportunities arise.
As we prepared for a workshop for a leadership group in the health sector, the fact that their why was crystal clear was presented fast and without doubt. How could we possibly question the fact that these group of professionals completely devoted to servicing the organisation and its patients would have any other purpose? And yet, the need to revisit a collective why that would be common to the group that have come together to become ONE team, seemed appropriate. Why? Because there was a new value proposition in the collective, because when we come together we see opportunities to take things further, bolder, in a more impactful way that what we could think individually was possible.
This is the challenge we put out there to leaders of the future. Think collectively and embed your purpose within everything you do.
The question is, to have an edge, to stand out from the pack and create a competitive advantage, are you best working in isolation or are you building collective power?
In a McKinsey report, What Matters Most? Five priorities for CEOs in the next normal, published late last year, the authors identify five priorities: Sustainability, Considering the Cloud, Cultivating the talent of tomorrow, A need for Speed & Operating with Purpose. If you pay close attention, all these priorities have a common element, the need for connection and collaboration, to be in it together. Even in their description of speed they are not talking about getting anywhere first, but rather gaining speed through efficiency and intelligent and robust operating models.
A balance between pushing the limits and keeping it real is needed. We’re not advocating a total U-turn on your BAU, but revisiting what has been happening in the last 2 years with a focus on the above 5 may be in order. Keep what worked for you, chances are you shifted plenty to online and started considering the benefits of the Cloud already. Lessons about how to engage and retain talent were also learnt, what could be improved? And finally what needs to shift? Is it your sustainability model? Speed? Or do you need to re-connect with purpose?