GNT #135: The ROI of purpose in business

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read time: 6 minutes
 

Many years ago, I sat in a boardroom with a team that had hit every metric on the dashboard.

Revenue was up. Churn was down. Cost per lead was well below target.

But no one was celebrating. The energy in the room was flat. The team looked tired. People were showing up, doing the work, and checking out. There was no spark, and no real clarity about where we were headed next.

Sitting in that room, it became clear to me:

We were building a business with no real reason to exist, other than to grow.

We didn’t need to sponsor another lead gen event. We needed a purpose to rally around.

Six months later, the same company had:

• Rebuilt its messaging to reflect a deeper reason behind the work
• Launched a customer-led community grounded in that purpose
• Attracted new partners and top hires organically
• And hit its best-ever quarter not just in revenue, but in impact, visibility, and intangible assets like team engagement, reputation, and clearer decision-making

That experience, and many more since then, have changed the way I think about growth.

In today’s market, purpose is either your competitive advantage or your blind spot.

In today's newsletter, we’re digging into:

• The surprising data that proves purpose is a growth multiplier, not just a nice-to-have
• What’s changed in the market and why generic brands are disappearing
• 3 concrete ways to make purpose a strategic advantage in your business

Let’s get to it. 

The business case for purpose

Let’s take “purpose” out of the abstract here.

Companies with a clear, defined, and lived purpose statement perform better across revenue, retention, engagement, and growth.

• Purpose-led businesses grow 2x faster than their competitors (Kantar, “Inspiring Purpose-Led Growth”)

• Companies that embed their purpose into operations see up to 30% higher innovation and growth margins (Harvard Business Review)

• High-purpose companies see 5% higher stock returns over three years (McKinsey, “Purpose: Shifting from Why to How”)

• 89% of executives say purpose drives employee satisfaction and customer loyalty (EY Beacon Institute)

• 72% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from brands that reflect their values (IBM & NRF)

• Employees at purpose-driven companies are:

  → 4x more engaged

  → 3x more likely to stay long term

  → 50% more likely to be high performers (Deloitte, “Purpose Under Pressure”)

Why this matters right now

The way we build and grow businesses today looks nothing like it did five years ago.

Customer expectations are higher. Employee values are louder. And misalignment costs more than ever in reputation, retention, and missed opportunities.

Some of the biggest shifts:

• Buyers are skeptical by default. They need a reason to trust you, and it’s not just your offer.
• Employees are asking bigger questions about the work they do and why it matters.
• Generic brands are disappearing. Differentiation now comes from clarity and conviction.
• Markets are noisier. Businesses with a point of view are breaking through.

And this shift isn’t just happening inside Fortune 500s. Small businesses, consultants, and founders are feeling it too - maybe more than anyone.

Because when you're closer to the work, the absence of purpose shows up faster:

• In confusing messaging
• In burned-out people
• In pivots, chasing growth with no real anchor

I'm seeing more and more people crave meaning. And rallying around a clear reason for existing isn’t a branding play. It’s a practical response to how the business landscape is actually working now.
 

3 concrete ways to make purpose a strategic advantage

When your purpose is clear and operational, it becomes one of your sharpest business tools for decision-making, for positioning, and for protecting your time, team, and energy.

Here’s how to make it work.

1. Clarify your profit–purpose link

Your purpose is the reason your business exists beyond making money, and the role it plays in shaping a better future.

It’s the belief that drives your work. The impact you want your business to have on people, systems, or society. And the foundation for every decision, message, and hire.

It's not a value proposition. It’s not what your customer gets. It’s why your work deserves to exist.

Here are a few examples that show what that looks like in practice:

• Microsoft: "To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."

• Brandcamp (small business marketing education): "To help entrepreneurs build brands that people care about."

• Starbucks: "To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time."

• Hatch (small business productized design studio): "To make thoughtful design more accessible to the people building the future."

• IKEA: "To create a better everyday life for the many people."

Notice they aren't taglines. They’re operating beliefs. They focus the work.

To clarify yours today, start here:

• What’s a problem, belief, or gap you care deeply about?
• What positive change do you want your business to help create?
• How does your model or work contribute to that change?

There's no perfect format, but if you're looking for a place to start, try this:

We exist to [big idea], because [why it matters to the world].

You can refine later. But start with something honest. A clear purpose won’t solve everything, but it will give your business direction, language, and momentum.

Read more: GNT #039: Simple questions to help you find your business purpose

2. Operationalize it into how you work

Once your purpose is clear, it has to live in your operations, not just your brand.

Some simple places to start:

• Hiring → Are you bringing in people who believe what you believe?
• Messaging → Does your purpose show up in how you talk about your work?
• Metrics → Are you tracking impact, not just output?
• Decision-making → Are you using purpose as a filter for what to start, stop, or prioritize?

When purpose is operational, everything feels more focused, and the results reflect that.

3. Use purpose to focus your growth

When you’re clear on your business purpose, you stop solving for simply scale and start solving for alignment.

It becomes the lens for every growth decision:

→ What to double down on
→ What to kill
→ What’s worth saying yes to, even if it’s hard
→ And what’s no longer worth the time

It’s especially useful in these areas:

Offers:
Refine what you sell, and stop adding new services just to chase revenue. Ask: Does this offer support the reason we exist? Will it deepen our relevance or dilute it?

Messaging & marketing:
Use your purpose to simplify your story. Strong purpose brings focus to your positioning, so you're not constantly tweaking your tagline or chasing every trend.

Partnerships & visibility:
Look for people and platforms that reinforce your core belief, not just boost your reach. When purpose leads those decisions, the rooms you choose to be in shift.

Prioritization:
If your team is juggling 10 ideas, purpose helps narrow it to the 2 that matter. It gives you a filter for what builds long-term equity versus just short-term noise.

Try this:

→ Pull up your current strategy doc, roadmap, or plan
→ Identify your top 3 growth priorities
→ For each one, answer:

• Does this support the reason we exist?
• What impact does it create, beyond revenue?
• Would we still pursue this if results took longer to show up?

Purpose doesn’t just help you grow. It helps you protect your energy, your brand, and your long-term direction.
 

Takeaway

If you’re overwhelmed by decisions, growth plans, or what to say next, you might be missing something upstream.

Purpose is how you lead with focus, connect with meaning, and build a business that lasts.

Not just for your customers.
For you.
For your team.
For the people your work touches in quiet and powerful ways.

Reconnect with the reason you exist, not to be perfect or trendy, but to be clear. That’s what moves things forward.

I’m always rooting for you. See you next week.

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If you liked this article, you might also like:

Free Guide: How to Harness the Power of Purpose to Grow Your Business
GNT #093: Filling the Funnel with Purpose
GNT #124: Humility and pride can coexist

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