Leading with Noble Purpose. McLeod Lisa Earle

While others in his space were talking about money, Gianoni talked about meaning. The difference in results is night and day.

      As a post Ianuzzi update on Monster, when I originally wrote about Monster's loss of purpose for Forbes.com, several Monster employees posted comments about their disappointment that their business seemed to have lost its soul. The article circulated through Monster, and as you can imagine, they weren't pleased. Imagine my surprise when several months later Yates and his senior advisors wanted to meet with me to discuss how Monster can reignite their team around a larger purpose. I've now shifted from critiquing Monster to working with them. Yates and his team are authentic in their desire to help Monster reclaim their mojo, and I'm all in to help them.

      Their new narrative is focused on job seekers. During a recent earnings call, Yates shared a tweet from a senior human resources executive at a major technology company, who tweeted out “@Monster – congratulations on getting your sexy back, impressed by your new products and services.” I'm all in for Monster. Reversing their results will not happen overnight. But as Mike Gianoni demonstrated at Blackbaud, when the leader puts purpose front and center, the cadence and tone change, the emotional undercurrent shifts, and the financial results follow.

      You may be thinking at this point, I'm not the CEO. What can I do?

      Let's look at another scenario. What if instead of being CEO, Gianoni had been a mid-level manager, and he had a show me the money peer in the same organization? What if they were both running product development teams? Whose team would be more innovative? What if both were managing big plants, or marketing groups, or sales teams? Whose team would be more emotionally engaged? The leader who talked about money, or the leader who talked about meaning? Whose team would be more dialed in to customers? Who would attract better talent? At the end of two years, which of the two leaders do you think would have better results?

      It's tempting to think a high-minded concept like Noble Purpose doesn't apply to people down in the trenches. In our experience, with firms large and small, with individual leaders and CEOs, the results play out in similar fashion, irrespective of size or scope.

      Here's how a summary of a profit focus versus a purpose focus plays out over time across an organization.

      Chapter 2

      Are You Telling a Money Story or a Meaning Story?

      No business needs to be a commodity business competing only on price. Every business can market itself based on its personality and spirit – in other words, its soul.

– David Lapin, Lead by Greatness

      Imagine you just boarded an airplane and took your seat. As you're settling in, your seatmate arrives. After a few pleasantries, he asks, “What do you do?” Oh no, it's elevator speech time. How would you answer?

      Most people answer with their role. They say things like, “I'm an accountant,” or “I'm in sales.” Others answer with their industry: “I'm in medical equipment,” or “I run a travel company.”