Ear Brain Heart 12th June, 2022

How to tell if you’re purpose-washing

Most of us are to some extent purpose-washing. That’s because it’s tricky in a complex system to make every decision fully inline with our beliefs. Sophie Turton is an expert at helping impact-driven organisations put their words into action.

Sophie co-founded The Joyful, a brand and marketing agency for purpose-driven businesses. Her work involves helping businesses of varying sizes create a net positive impact, and is a champion for individuals’ agency in creating change.

Things to consider

  • A lot of businesses are trying to do right, but are are the mercy of external forces.
  • What feels in purposeful alignment in one culture may not work at all in another.
  • Net positive impact means that even the smallest organisations can have an impact.
  • Small to medium sized enterprises make up 99.9% of the UK business population (gov.uk, 2021).
  • Human beings need to feel they have a purpose.
  • Even those who preach the gospel of good intent still makes mistakes. Pobody’s nerfect, but we can strive for better by owning our mistakes.
  • Every time we use our voice or stand up for others, we push larger companies to make better choices.

Links

Transcript

00:00:00Mark
I'm gonna see how, if I'm gonna be distracted by this cat or if I'm gonna make him go away. Go on. Off you, off you go.
00:00:05Sophie
Made him go away with your mind waves.
00:00:08Mark
You're listening to Ear Brain Heart, an experiment in showing up. I'm Mark Steadman and I was the sort of kid to whom you could never say things were just so. I always wanted to know the why behind the what, and I feel like even more keenly today, especially when it comes to language.
00:00:30Mark
Helping me …

Ear Brain Heart

A discussion with creative, purpose-led entrepreneurs and change-makers using their powers of persuasion for good. Through weekly discussions, I explore how we can combine creativity and compassion in our marketing.

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