With the new year having just started, now is the time to hit the reset button and reframe your professional and business goals. While organizations have clearly established KPIs (key performance indicators) to measure what is to be achieved, I contend the era of “performance-at-all-costs” is a focus that must end. Instead, purpose-driven, human-centered leadership and performance is the future–with a focus on why goals & actions will move your organization forward..
As such, organizations will gain the most from employees and leaders alike when they shift their focus to people, purpose, and sustainable results. In doing so, leaders will be more capable of balancing performance with purpose, ambition with humanity, and results with well-being.
Purpose Clarity – Moving from What to Achieve to Why does it matter.
As the owner of a purpose-driven small business, I travelled my own journey to clearly find my business purpose – which is really an extension of my own professional purpose. My purpose came to be to provide myself with a clear vision of what was important and a way to measure my performance and how I make decisions.
I considered my business values, vision & mission along with the impact I wish to make through my business. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify the 17 areas that are important for the world to focus on in order to achieve peace and prosperity, an end to poverty, improved health and education, a reduction in inequality, while also spurring economic growth and climate change.
In our work, we align with SDG 8 which focuses on decent work and economic growth. We also focus on good health and well-being (SDG 3), This all translates into Ignite Leadership’s purpose statement:
To inspire purpose-driven leaders to build workplaces where people and purpose thrive—so that work becomes a catalyst for well-being, growth, and lasting transformation.
What is your organization’s purpose?
A purpose statement will define “why you exist, what you do, and states your commitment, as an organization, to the world. When you have a clear purpose, every stakeholder will clearly understand why you exist and why it matters.
What is your professional purpose statement?
Having a professional purpose will assist you in making complex decisions, maintaining your motivation when the pressure is on, and in helping you to communicate your unique value to your employer or in key relationships with clients or other teams.
Think of your purpose as a guiding compass – not a slogan.
It will help keep you anchored when your face challenges or high-pressure decisions. More importantly it will balance results with people and provide the consistency in your choices that will build trust and engagement.
Adopting Human-Centered Goal Setting
When speaking of goal setting, we are frequently guided to use the S.M.A.R.T approach. I know I recommend this approach too. However, when you integrate people into this format, you identify how the results are achieved and not just what is achieved.
A typical financial goal may be:
to create revenues of $1 million in 2026 by boosting repeat sales by 30% with existing customers and expanding market demand through direct marketing and outreach sales calls.
This goal does not reflect the human side of engagement, well-being, or even psychological safety. Instead, it focuses on what you and your team must achieve to meet the companies typical KPIs.
When you focus on how your team will achieve your financial goal, the path to that goal is more explicit.
To achieve $1 million in revenue in 2026 by leading on purpose—prioritizing customer impact, long-term relationships and sustainable sales practices that support team well-being, deepen customer loyalty by 30%, and expand demand through authentic connection and outreach.
Lead by Example & Generate Well-Being for All
Today’s leaders are frequently juggling more than one or two projects or issues. As the pressure mounts, so does the risk of burnout. However, when you are running on empty, you set an example that directly impacts how your team performs when deadlines are looming.
As a leader, set the direction, lead the plan, implementation, and review and then you inspire on-going continual improvement (S.P.A.R.K.™). This significantly more than just being a decision-maker and a person charged with ensuring the team fulfill their job responsibilities.
Instead, you also set the tone for the culture and parameters that reflect that culture. This requires you to shift your own focus from self-sacrifice to self-awareness and communicate and demonstrate this new culture through your words and actions.
To achieve this, you will inspire the entire team to manage their own energy, boundaries, and the emotional load they can carry. It is understandable that each person on the team, including yourself, may experience guilt or feel fear because you want to appear incapable of doing the job. Formidable team relationships, solid communication of expectations and challenges being experienced, along with empathy when energy, boundaries or emotional load are impacting performance. This new culture will set you, as the leader, and each team member up for success, without the burnout.
If you consider that the culture determines how people show up when no one is watching, your daily habits have a direct impact on creating or eroding your workplace culture – even when the going gets tough.
Establishing workplace wellness as a Priority
As mentioned, when you integrate a culture of well-being, you will create a ripple effect that has a positive impact on every member of the team, and the performance each person can deliver.
Well-being should not be considered a benefit. The World Health Organization has indicated that mental health issues including anxiety and depression are costing businesses over $1 billion every year in lost productivity.
Integrating wellness as core to organizational success, pays huge dividends at every level. An excellent work environment that values a safe and healthy environment helps build a sense of confidence, purpose and achievement, supports positive and inclusive relationships. It also embraces good mental health which can minimize tension, work conflicts, and workplace happiness.
A recent article shared in Fortune magazine shared how the CEO, Jim Fish, attended 1 a.m. safety meetings held in his organization, Waste Management. Regularly attending these meetings helped shift his usual finance focus to one that is more human focused. As such he learned a lot from his team that prompted positive changes within the organization that improved safety while saving the company money.
In summary, today’s leaders will create a “triple win” when they integrate people and purpose as foundational components within their organization, People are your greatest resource and a happy, safe workplace stimulates creativity, innovation, productivity, enhances employee retention, reduces absenteeism, and costs. Your purpose will help define who you are, why you exist and how you will make a positive impact – thereby differentiating you from your competition.
Join me again for the next post…
Next time we will explore the challenges leaders and organisations are facing with the tug of war happening between on-site working versus hybrid or remote options. How does all this impact purpose and wellness for leaders in today’s turbulent economy?
