The False Dichotomy Between Purpose and Profit

From ‘Nice to Have’ to Strategic Necessity

Early in my career, purpose was something many companies expressed but few operationalised. It was often treated as a cultural signal rather than a strategic driver. Over time, that view has shifted dramatically. Customers now expect alignment, employees seek meaning and investors increasingly view purpose as a proxy for resilience.

At IDX, our purpose is straightforward. We help clients communicate with confidence. In practical terms, that means making them more trusted, more valuable and more connected to their stakeholders. It is not an abstract ideal but a commercial commitment. When people understand why the organisation exists and how their work contributes to client success, performance follows naturally.

Purpose as a Driver of Performance

The most effective organisations are those that treat purpose as an operating principle, not a slogan. This requires designing systems, structures and behaviours that reinforce what you stand for. At IDX, we have done this through initiatives such as our AAA proposition – Advised, Available, Accountable – which translates our purpose into how we show up for clients in every interaction and every outcome.

More recently, we reorganised the company around two simple ideas: Customer Success and Customer Delivery. The rationale was clear. If our purpose is to help clients succeed, every function must be aligned to that outcome. While it is early, we are already seeing the benefits. Clients tell us they feel “heard and helped” in ways that distinguish us from traditional holding companies, which are often viewed as product-led rather than client-led. Internally, collaboration has accelerated and teams are clearer about how their work contributes to results.

Where quantitative data is not yet mature, leading indicators matter. In any transformation, signs of progress surface first in behaviour and sentiment: faster execution, more joined-up decision-making, rising confidence among clients and colleagues. These signals are typically the precursors to measurable commercial gains.

Lessons From Transformation

Across my career, including at Chime, Behaviorally and now IDX, I have seen the same pattern repeat itself: When people reconnect with purpose, performance turns sharply upward.

At Chime, we applied a simple rule: Every project had to make or save money for clients. Work that did not pass the “So What?” test was re-evaluated. This sharpened our focus and ensured that effort aligned with client value creation. The commercial impact was immediate and lasting.

At Behaviorally, clarity was the unlock. We rebuilt the business around a single metric – the Pack Power Score – which helped brands predict the sales performance of their packaging. By defining our purpose as helping clients “own the moment of decision,” we gave teams a tangible way to measure their contribution. Once people saw the link between purpose and client outcomes, growth accelerated.

At IDX, we are integrating purpose and performance to the point where they are becoming indistinguishable. Our operating model, product development and talent strategy all flow from a single mission: client success. One major client recently remarked that the new model felt “refreshingly genuine,” serving as a reminder that purpose is often most powerful when experienced, not announced.

Leading With Purpose Under Pressure

Purpose is easy to champion when times are good; the test comes when leaders must make difficult or unpopular decisions. Early in my career, I had to let go of one of my top-performing salespeople because their behaviour undermined collaboration. It was a painful choice. The individual was both talented and a friend. But a high performer who damages culture ultimately erodes performance.

Once the individual left, something important happened. The team began working together more effectively, morale improved and overall sales exceeded previous targets. This reaffirmed a lesson I have carried throughout my career and a principle supported by the well-known Harvard Business Review research on Sears’ employee-customer-profit chain: Happy employees create happy customers, which in turn drives financial performance.

Accountability to Investors and Boards

Leaders often ask how to justify purpose-driven strategy to investors, especially when quarterly pressures loom large. My view is that alignment starts with a shared understanding of not only what you aim to achieve, but how you intend to achieve it.

Boards and investors look for credible pathways, not rhetoric. That includes clear lead indicators of transformation, whether it be signs that behaviour is changing, strategic bets successfully landing or culture moving in the right direction. Over time, these indicators translate into measurable commercial outcomes.

The Next Leadership Challenge: Purpose in the AI Era

As artificial intelligence reshapes the communications and marketing landscape, including how agencies advise, execute and measure impact, leaders face the temptation to automate everything versus the responsibility to preserve human judgment, empathy and creativity.

AI, when combined with human intelligence, can accelerate success. It enables precision, speed and scale in ways that were previously impossible. But purpose must remain the compass. Technology should help organisations fulfil their mission more effectively, not dilute the human connection at the heart of trust and value creation.

Leading With Power, Pace and Passion

If there is one lesson I hope readers take from my experience, it is that purpose and performance are not mutually exclusive. They are mutually reinforcing. Purpose provides the “why”; performance provides the proof.

For leaders, the challenge is to align the two with clarity, courage and consistency, and, above all, to bring people with you. When organisations unite around a mission bigger than any individual, results follow.

As I often say: Lead with purpose, deliver through performance and do both with Power, Pace and Passion.

CONNECT WITH IDX