A purpose driven company stands for and acts on something bigger than its products and services.
It’s not just a transactional business.
It’s a business designed to make a positive Impact.
Impact is the mark your company leaves on the world and it’s defined through your purpose, vision, and mission.
Knowing the definitions isn’t quite enough. Business owners often ask, “But Rob…HOW do we do this?”
And a second (and sometimes unasked) question is “Why does it matter?”
Let’s look at some examples.
Alaska Airlines: lives their commitment to “fly greener” with innovative technology
The global aviation industry produces around 2% of all human-induced carbon dioxide emissions.
In response, Alaska Airlines made a commitment to “fly greener.”
They put measurable goals in place to make sure that their actions lined up with their talk.
On an Alaska flight a few years back, I noticed these odd little wingtips. The captain made an announcement explaining that these were there to increase fuel efficiency. I remember thinking at the time that it wouldn’t make much difference.
Turns out that these “scimitar winglets” saved the company 34,000 gallons of fuel in the first year they rolled them out. At the time, it was about $20 million in savings. Today it could easily be double that amount.
Other “fly greener” commitments include being a pioneer in bio jet fuel made from the stumps and branches left over from harvesting timber and reducing inflight waste through their recycling program.
Alaska has reduced emissions by 16% per revenue passenger mile since 2012 and has set a course for net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 — earning the No. 1 spot for North American aviation on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index along the way.
Here’s what their Director of Sustainability had to say:
“We care about running a great airline and making a positive impact on the places and people we serve. When we are at our best, we do so in ways that strengthen our business and accelerate our growth.” — Kirk Myers, former Director of Sustainability, Alaska Airlines
Sometimes business leaders think they have to choose between purpose and profitability.
What Kirk is saying, and what Alaska Airlines is proving, is that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can live up to your purpose and grow your business at the same time.
That’s what a truly purposeful company looks like.
CVS Pharmacy: demonstrates commitment to “health” by not selling tobacco products
Sometimes choosing a commitment to purpose causes some short-term pain.
In 2014, CVS Pharmacy became the first U.S. drugstore chain to stop selling tobacco products.
When they realized that tobacco didn’t align with its purpose of helping people on their path to better health, CVS executives not only removed all tobacco products from the stores, they also launched a program to help smokers quit.
In the first year of this new strategy, CVS lost $2 billion in annual cigarette sales.
However, their pharmacy sales jumped by 4% and their demonstrated commitment to better health helped them become an attractive target for a $69 billion merger with Aetna.
Now, I’m not going to say that CVS is perfect, it’s not.
We know that CVS still sells questionable products for our health – like sugary snacks and alcohol. But as leaders, we need to keep the perspective that purpose is a journey.
There are 2 things CVS is doing really well:
- They use their purpose as a NorthStar to guide difficult decisions (like cutting out the sales of tobacco products)
- They LIVE their purpose by connecting it to all stakeholders. They want their employees to be healthier and their customers to be healthier. To live this, they try to ensure their employees connect with that purpose and see how their work is helping people on their path to better health.
Timberland: lives their values by building an employee workforce of “earthkeepers”
Timberland is known as an environmentally aware supplier of outdoor apparel.
They use their values and beliefs to attract employees who are already aligned with their purpose. They call them “earthkeepers” – a term that encapsulates their core values of creating responsible products, protecting the outdoors, and serving communities around the world.
They’ve been raising the bar on sustainability for decades. As a founding member of the Leather Working Group in 2005, Timberland helped drive the adoption of industry-wide environmental best practices at tanneries around the world.
Today, they’ve set an ambitious target: 100% of products designed for circularity and 100% of natural materials sourced from regenerative agriculture — all by 2030. That’s not minimizing harm. That’s trying to give back more than they take.
But the story that really stood out to me was this one:
When Timberland’s executives discovered that workers in their offshore factories lacked access to clean drinking water, they partnered with Planet Water Foundation to install purified water towers in several of those communities.
The result? Higher productivity, lower absenteeism — and a meaningfully better life for the people living there.
That’s purpose in action.
How do organizations pursue purpose successfully?
It starts with articulating a clear, authentic, and long-term purpose – something that is true today, and that guides the organization into the future.
- Clear = easy to understand
- Authentic = relatable, true
- Long-term = provides continuity between generations
Stand-out companies like the ones above set measurable goals to put their purpose into action. They don’t just frame it and hang it on the wall — they build their decisions around it.
To learn more about how you can create Impact in your business, reach out to one of our experienced family business advisors. We’d love to help.