Context: How our work with corporates has informed our workshops

An essential part of being a purpose led business is to have a shared understanding of what it means to be purpose-led, in particular amongst the senior leadership team. That is why it is critical to create space for continuous dialogue and sense making throughout, so that people, in particular senior leadership, can openly share their views and that any underlying differences are brought into the room at an early stage. Workshops are one way to do this and we use them extensively in our work with corporates.

The goal is not bland uniformity

Rather it is a continuing healthy and robust dialogue based on a collective commitment to a clear purpose, recognising that the best collective decisions are made by teams where challenge is welcome and which brings in, and holds in creative tension, a range of perspectives.

The importance of dialogue, including the difference between dialogue and discussion is explored in: The importance of dialogue

Ambition

When there is a crisis this inevitably provokes tension within businesses.  For example, during the COVID pandemic, while many businesses demonstrated a powerful and sincere desire to care about the needs of their people, customers and other stakeholders, tensions inevitably emerged, with pressure to reduce costs and headcount while progressing with a myriad of complex issues (e.g. race, diversity, climate crisis, mental health) and responding to external pressures. In this context there can be a temptation in some businesses to lower the ambition to become purpose-led as a way of relieving the tension.

As leadership face into difficult transitions, this tension can be used creatively in a way that keeps the ambition high, laying a pathway to the future rather than trying to reduce anxiety by lowering the ambition, thereby holding onto the present or regressing to the past.

As we emerge from any crisis, we have an opportunity to strengthen the collective commitment to purpose to explore how to use this tension creatively and hold the complexity productively, finding a pathway together in becoming purpose-led.