Mike Keech, CEO, Liquid I.V., a Los Angeles-based functional hydration company and #1 powdered hydration brand in America.
Companies that struggle to clearly define their purpose often look at successful purpose-driven organizations and wonder: How do they do it?
As a hyper-growth company with thoughtfully designed purpose and values statements, we constantly strive to make purpose a key driver of all that we do. Here’s how we’ve done so and what other companies can learn from our approach.
How Purpose And Values Differ
One reason companies struggle with meaningfully defining purpose and values is that they confuse the two.
Boiled down, it’s fairly simple. Your purpose is the core reason your company exists at a high level—how it impacts the world and people’s lives. It’s the positive societal impact you hope to achieve, expressed in a few words.
Your purpose answers an important question every company should ask: What would the world lose if our company disappeared?
Put another way, purpose answers the question of why you do what you do; it’s the thing that gets you up in the morning and keeps the juices flowing. Purpose helps everyone reach a little higher and achieve more.
Here are four essentials for getting purpose right from lessons we’ve learned:
1. Understand Where Values Fit
Values are “how” you go about pursuing your purpose (the “why”). For us, they go together and are equally important as they guide our actions and decision-making process.
As we see it, core values are cultural cornerstones. They can’t be compromised. Not for convenience. Not for short-term economic gain.
Don’t confuse values with goals or aspirations, which are vastly different. And avoid treating them as a one-and-done endeavor. Weaving core values into everything your company does helps fuel growth, inspire innovation and enhance your ability to adapt to ever-changing conditions.
The Walmart Model
Walmart, the world’s largest private employer with some 2.1 million “associates,” transitioned to a more purpose-driven organization. Its formal purpose statement is: “We aim to build a better world—helping people live better and renew the planet while building thriving, resilient communities.” Walmart’s CEO boils it down to one word: “Serve.”
2. Make Purpose Your Immovable Object In A Fast-Moving World
Our purpose at Liquid I.V. is “To elevate the vitality of people and the planet.” That’s why we exist. Our values guide how we go about doing it:
• Play to win.
• Leave a lasting mark.
• Always be pioneering.
• Hold the bar high.
• Champion well-being.
• Go further together.
In an environment of constant change, these are the constants. We know as a team that they won’t change and shouldn’t change. And that helps us be more open to changing—well—just about anything else.
When you’ve solidified your purpose and values, all else falls into place a bit more easily.
Businesses can hold themselves accountable to their stated values in several ways:
• Make sure values are woven into your decision-making process.
• Use reporting and measurement systems that are transparent.
• Take regular pulse checks: Are actions aligned with values?
• Encourage input from everyone on the team.
3. Give Impact A Starring Role
I also believe that creating a positive societal and environmental impact—via corporate impact initiatives—plays a vital role in “walking the talk” of a broadly stated purpose.
As just one example, Liquid I.V. supported one of our many nonprofit partners in a program that helped expand a desalination plant’s reach to extend water pipelines to more remote areas that have experienced little to no rainfall. Liquid I.V.’s investment provided new access to clean water supporting 3,000 households and a total of about 18,000 individuals in Somalia.
To build a meaningful impact program, choose a focal point that aligns with your company’s purpose and values. Set specific goals and objectives and make an unwavering commitment to funding the program. Get everyone involved. And—perhaps above all else—it must be authentic.
4. Recognize The Business Value In Purpose And Values
Research by McKinsey reveals that companies that use creativity, analytics and purpose together in everyday operations “achieve dramatically higher average growth rates.”
Genuine commitment to purpose—and I emphasize the importance of it being truly genuine—can make your company and team more resilient and create measurable value as it delights customers and positions your company as a real difference-maker.
Knowing, understanding and embracing your “why”—your purpose—is an often-overlooked superpower. What could be more motivational for all of us than believing in something bigger than ourselves?
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