Truist-Perspectives-AUGUST_2021

Insights: Leadership
Leading with purpose
Your personal leadership purpose can set the course for your effectiveness as a leader. Here,
Truist Leadership Institute’s Eileen Hogan explains how to define your purpose—and how to
stay aligned to it as you lead.
It’s very appropriate that Doug Rinker
refers to his planned retirement
as “repurposing” his life. Rinker,
who has spent 30 years leading
Winchester Equipment Company, an
agricultural and industrial equipment
sales and service company based in
Winchester, Virginia, has a story that
really brings to life the concept of
leadership purpose.
Rinker turned to Truist Leadership
Institute as he was putting the pieces
of his succession plan in place and
working to train the team who would
lead the company next. They were
hardworking, engaged, good people
who valued teamwork, but things
weren’t coming together as well as
they could for the business.
“We just couldn’t get a level of
satisfaction that we were moving in
the right direction as a group, or, in
most cases, individually,” Rinker says.
What was the solution? Clarifying
their purpose and applying it to their
work. The leaders became more
effective at working with customers
and with one another, and they felt
more satisfied about their work.
Winchester Equipment’s experience
mirrors that of hundreds of other
companies studied in leadership
research. In its 2018 Global Talent
Trends study, the global benefits
consulting firm Mercer found that
75% of employees who consider
themselves to be thriving at work
say their company has a
strong sense of purpose
that resonates with their
personal values.
Some team members
have even thanked Rinker
and shared their personal
stories of how the discussions
of leadership purpose
helped them.
“As somebody who loves to
teach, that just really rings
my bell,” Rinker says. “When
you’ve seen the light in the
eye come on, then you know you’ve
had a good day.”
Understanding leadership purpose
Many organizations have a mission
statement or company values. Leadership
purpose simply applies that
concept to individuals. Getting clear
about your leadership purpose and
using it effectively helps you create
better business outcomes and helps
you strengthen your relationships
with your colleagues, customers, and
peers.
Consider these questions as you
contemplate your leadership
purpose:
• What is the guiding star that helps
me make decisions about what I
spend time and energy on?
• What kind of relationships do I
want to build, and how do I want to
impact people?
“Tell our story, service
our customers, be a
great team, be a role
model, and practice
the Golden Rule.”
Rinker’s purpose statement
• Why am I here? What impact do
I want to create at work? In the
world?
Talking with a leadership expert, a
mentor, or a trusted peer about your
answers to these questions can help
you define your leadership purpose.
Reflecting on the times when you
felt you were being your best, most
authentic self and were making a
positive difference can also be part
of the process. Your purpose might
involve teaching, coaching, innovating,
solving problems, or creating
access to opportunity for others.
These concepts can then be woven
together into an expression of your
individual leadership purpose.
Rinker’s purpose statement? “Tell
our story, service our customers, be
a great team, be a role model, and
practice the Golden Rule.”
14 | Truist Perspectives