How is it already the last week of February?! Hard to believe. That means, though, that the Spring HR Tech show is next week, and I will be sharing a keynote on March 3, 4:45 pm PT, Putting Purpose in Your Leadership Pipeline. We will be following this up with a new report.

Since I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot, I thought I’d give you a bit of the behind-the-scenes on the talk. When I began preparing, I thought the talk and report would be all about the cool ways HR was helping leaders learn, develop, and reinforce their purpose. Rest assured, there is plenty of that in the talk. However, I quickly realized that a focus on what HR can do wasn’t going to actually help leaders prioritize purpose.

Instead, after conversations with several non-HR leaders, I realized that the most significant barrier to leaders prioritizing purpose was how they perceived purpose. Many leaders see a focus on purpose as, at worst, a distraction from their business, and at best, an HR fad designed to help address “The Great Resignation.” 

The need for purpose is more fundamental than either of those things. Here are just a few stats (from Just Capital) from the talk that make this point clearly:

• 58% of Americans believe the current form of capitalism is NOT working for average Americans
• 51% of Americans believe companies are NOT having a positive impact on society overall
• 47% of Americans believe companies are going in the wrong direction

Having an organizational purpose is tied closely to serving all stakeholders:

• Employees
• Customers
• Suppliers
• Communities
• Shareholders

If leaders can effectively adopt or refine a clear purpose that enables them to serve and address the needs of all those stakeholders, they may be able to stem the tides of discontent so many feel. Organizational purpose is about making organizations work for everyone.

But how do we help leaders adjust their understanding of purpose? Well, that is what the talk is about! We have a P&L-driven way to help leaders re-think purpose, and we follow that up with some CEO-led examples from PepsiCo, EY, and The Home Depot.

I sincerely hope you join us for the talk—it’s free!—and check out our research report once it comes out. Until then, I hope you have a purposeful week.