Formulating a statement of purpose is now considered almost mandatory in the business world. Inspirational phrases multiply in reports, on office walls and in institutional presentations. However, there is an uncomfortable truth that few managers admit: writing a purpose is difficult, but making it live within the company is even more difficult. A study published in March 2025, on Long Range Planning, based on data from more than 57,000 employees and 469 companies shows why. Rodolphe Duran and Pauline Asmar, from the HEC School of Management in Paris demonstrate that purpose only leads to impact when it is translated in real dialogue between leaders and their teams. It is not the slogan that counts, it is the daily conversation.

The purpose lives in teams

Research reveals something that should be obvious but still isn’t: the purpose only works when people understand how their work contributes to it. And that requires conversation. It demands that leaders explain the company’s direction, listen to their teams and build meaning together. When that happens, the commitment clearly increases.

However, the contrary is also real: when purpose doesn’t reach the field, it becomes noise. People stop believing. They start treating it like a corporative trend that lasts one management cycle and then disappear.

In other words, purpose is not implemented by decree. It is implemented by responsible leadership.

The biggest threat to purpose is incoherence

The study reveals something that many leaders prefer to ignore: if a team feels that the leader treats members differently, purpose ceases to unite and begins dividing.

When the quality of the relationship between leader and employees varies too much, the impact of the discourse on purpose evaporates. There can be no alignment when some have privileged access to information and others do not, when some feel recognized and others invisible.

In other words, purpose does not fail because of teams. It fails because of leadership. And this is a point that links purpose to responsible leadership: to lead is to create conditions of fairness, consistency, and trust so that purpose makes sense in everyday life.

Autonomy helps, but it does not work on empty space

Another important insight is that giving autonomy strengthens the impact of purpose, but it is not a magic solution. It only works when there is already a minimum basis of trust, communication, an alignment. Very young teams or teams with leaders who are very distant from a generational point of view also feel these effects unevenly.

Autonomy without purpose is abandonment, while purpose without autonomy is control. It is up to responsible leadership to strike a balance between the two.

Purpose is proof of maturity in leadership

There is a growing tendency to treat purpose as an ingredient of corporate prestige. However, what this study shows is that, above all, purpose is proof of maturity in leadership: translating purpose into honest conversations within teams, consistently, is difficult, and there is where you see who really leads.

Portuguese companies that wish to use purpose as competitive advantage must invest in more capable leaders who can make it a reality. Leaders who talk, who align, who treat everyone fairly, who distribute autonomy with responsibility.

Adriana Zani, Researcher for the Center for Responsible Business & Leadership at CATÓLICA-LISBON