Purpose statements, if they exist at all, tend to be too vague or too lofty, or both. To use purpose to drive business, leaders need to balance idealism and pragmatism. Atif Sheikh and Darren Ashby discuss how to develop and implement a purpose for your business that is both clear and demanding, and that stretches between current strategy and long-term plans.

Many leadership teams focus on “the why.” Darren Ashby urges them to think about “the how.”

I saw one of today’s guests Darren Ashby speak at an event – talking through the specifics of how his company businessfourzero tried to change the culture of Tesco. businessfourzero are one of a group of organisations who work with leaders to change company culture.

CEO Atif Sheikh speaks to Ian King on Sky News about 'The Great Resignation', what it might mean for businesses and their people in 2022, and the importance of Purpose in giving people a reason to believe that their work is actually worth it.

“AI is both a goldmine and a minefield. As leaders, we are together going to have to figure out how to recover as much of the gold as possible, without all getting blown till kingdom come in the process.” - Atif Sheikh in Forbes

Whether you believe in ‘The Great Resignation’ or not, where some reports suggested post-covid up to 60% of people said they were going to leave their jobs, the reported numbers of people still considering quitting are pretty shocking - and point to a deep rooted disengagement with the work they are doing and the business they are doing it for.

Middle managers perform a critically important role within organizations. They are the vital link between the senior leadership team and the front-line workers who make things happen on a day-to-day basis. Yet while middle managers have a huge amount to contribute to organizational success, they can sometimes be accused of being unimaginative, inflexible blockers to progress.

Partner & CIO Darren Ashby speaks to Bobby Kerr on 'Down to Business' podcast about the importance of having a mission in business.

While we should expect leaders to be role models, that doesn’t mean we should expect them to behave perfectly. “What we should expect of a leader is that they hold the bar high on the ‘how’ for their teams and peers,” says Darren Ashby, chief impact officer at consultancy businessfourzero and co-author of Every Team Actually Doing Business Better.

The two episodes are neat demonstrations of how, according to Atif Sheikh, founder and CEO of the consultancy businessfourzero, “the dynamic between boards and the executive team is pretty broken.”

“You're only a leader if people choose to follow you,” says Darren Ashby, co-founder of purpose, strategy and culture consultancy businessfourzero and co-author of Every Team Actually Doing Business Better.