The Power of Purpose
How a Clear Mission Unlocks Team Potential
📌 THE POINT IS: A well-defined purpose fuels motivation, enhances teamwork, and drives business impact. Teams with a shared mission don’t just function—they thrive. Purpose fuels motivation, collaboration, and impact. Leaders who create clarity around their team’s mission will unlock a new level of performance.
In my career, I’ve seen firsthand how purpose can transform a group of individuals into a high-performing team.
Whether at General Electric (GE) or Bank of America, I’ve led data and analytics teams through major transitions, and the one constant factor in their success has been a clear sense of purpose. When people understand why their work matters, they become empowered, emboldened, and more engaged.
But this isn’t just anecdotal—it’s backed by research and real-world applications across industries, including the corporate world and even the military.
The Science Behind Purpose-Driven Teams
A McKinsey study found that employees who derive meaning from their work are five times more likely to stay engaged and productive. They also found that during the Pandemic, 67% of employees started focusing on their life's purpose. This resulted in the Great Resignation, another global phenomenon, that highlighted people's need to find meaning and purpose in their work.
Similarly, Deloitte reports that organizations with a strong sense of purpose experience 30% higher innovation levels and 40% greater workforce retention.
One reason for this? Purpose creates alignment. When a team understands its mission, decisions become easier, collaboration is smoother, and obstacles feel like challenges rather than roadblocks.
This holds true beyond corporate settings. The U.S. Army’s research into unit cohesion shows that soldiers who understand their mission and feel connected to a larger purpose demonstrate greater resilience under pressure. Sergeant Major of the Army, Robert E Hall said,
Sense of purpose is the primary factor for high morale- the individual soldier's knowledge that he or she is making a difference.
Real-World Examples: Bringing Good Things, and Purpose, to Life
Building a People Analytics Function at GE
When I was tapped at GE to create the People Analytics function, I had to build a high-performing team from scratch—bringing together analysts from different parts of the company, many of whom had never worked together. The challenge? They came from different reporting functions, different countries!, and had varied skill sets.
The first step wasn’t just hiring the right people—it was giving them a mission. Together, we crafted a purpose statement:
🛠️ To be the premier analytics experts of GE HR data, shifting the paradigm from "show me your Excel" to "show me your PowerPoint."
That single statement reframed the team’s mindset. Instead of churning out data reports, we became strategic advisors helping leaders make better talent decisions. The results? Within our first year, we became the only shared service team to gain accolades across multiple business units, saving the company >$1 MM in cost and much more in work content redistribution (e.g. people got to work on more important stuff!).
Merging Data Scientists & Developers in Internal Audit
Later, when I moved into internal audit at GE, I was asked to build a data analytics practice. The challenge? Merging a team of data scientists and software developers into a cohesive unit. The existing team was stuck in a reactive, service-delivery model—taking on one-off projects rather than driving meaningful change.
We reset with a purpose:
🔍 To develop an analytics platform that would revolutionize how auditors detect financial anomalies.
This clarity transformed the team’s work. Instead of handling sporadic requests, we built a machine-learning model that automatically, successfully audited the fixed asset register—something that had never been done before. Purpose turned fragmented efforts into a structured, impactful initiative.
Bringing “a Little Love” to a Data Team at Bank of America
When I joined Bank of America, I quickly realized that my new data team was missing something fundamental: confidence. They had the technical skills, but they lacked the business context to understand how their work fit into the bigger picture.
I told my boss,
“The only thing this team really needs right now is a little love.”
And that “love” came in the form of purpose. We crafted a new mission:
💡 To build an automated decision engine that adds a human touch to collections scenarios.
This changed everything. Team members no longer saw their work as just processing data; they saw it as helping people navigate financial hardships with empathy. That shift fueled innovation and engagement in ways that a simple directive never could. It was especially powerful during the COVID-19 pandemic. When everyone could have been distracted by fear and the impact on their own worlds, they rallied behind making sure others' financial troubles were at least minimized. Now that's a purpose.
How to Instill Purpose in Your Team
If you’re leading a team—whether it’s a corporate department, a product group, or even a cross-functional initiative—consider these steps:
✅ Craft a Clear Mission Statement – Define your team’s purpose in a way that is inspiring yet practical.
✅ Align the Work with Business Impact – Show how everyday tasks contribute to the bigger picture.
✅ Foster Ownership – Give team members autonomy over how they achieve the goal.
✅ Communicate Purpose Regularly – Reinforce the mission in meetings, one-on-ones, and project planning.
✅ Celebrate Progress – Recognize milestones that tie back to the core purpose.
🤔 Final Thoughts: Purpose Fuels Performance
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that a purpose-driven team is an unstoppable team. Purpose is not a corporate buzzword—it’s the backbone of innovation, engagement, and retention.
When employees see where they fit into the big picture, they go beyond just meeting expectations—they exceed them.
Matt Brooks is a seasoned thought leader and practitioner in data & analytics, leadership development, and business transformation. Follow for insights on building high-performance teams and driving strategic change powered by your organization's data assets.