Teri Thomas is the CEO of Volpara Health and the CBO of Lunit.
A McKinsey survey on organizational purpose revealed some telling statistics: 82% of respondents believe it’s important for a company to have a purpose, and 72% said purpose should carry more weight than profit.
However, only 42% reported that their organization’s purpose drives impact, highlighting a gap between aspiration and execution. While most organizations recognize the importance of purpose, far fewer have been successful in using it to drive tangible results—especially in the tech industry.
So, how can you strike the balance between purpose and profit? First, gain a deep understanding of your organization’s purpose(s).
Identifying Purpose
Purpose should be separate from profit and deeply rooted in personal and emotional values. It drives your company beyond financial gains and gives it a reason for being. A good purpose statement is short, memorable and connected to your company’s differentiators. For example, Volpara’s purpose statement is “saving families from cancer.” This purpose is a guiding light that informs everything we do, from product development and partnerships to profit. It ensures our work resonates with everyone on a personal level.
While profit is quantifiable, purpose is softer and requires constant attention. It motivates teams to go the extra mile and connects your mission to the broader community.
But how can you know you’re fulfilling your purpose? There are two ways. One is black and white: by figuring out how to measure it. Many organizations struggle with this, as measuring purpose is not as straightforward as tracking financials.
In our case, we measure purpose by examining our impact on women’s health. Our AI-driven breast imaging solutions have touched the lives of 14.7 million women, contributed to over 14,000 research hours, and potentially detected an additional 2,200 cancer cases in the U.S. annually. These metrics clearly show we are fulfilling our purpose of saving families from cancer.
The key is identifying measures that align closely with your purpose, even if they are not directly tied to profit.
The alternative—and powerful—way to fulfill your purpose is by ensuring it’s clear and communicated in a way that meets the purpose of a purpose! Do your staff understand it? Can they see it and remember it? Is it reinforced regularly in corporate communications? For example, my company has regular staff communications about “why we do what we do,” which paints the purpose picture in brilliant color. Sharing specific patient stories from those who have been deeply impacted by the use of our software, including the families’ experiences, is a powerful way to transform abstract numbers into memorable human faces. This second step, putting faces to the numbers, connects our staff with our purpose through emotions and memory. That deep connection to purpose is what gives it the most power!
Profit Is Not A Dirty Word
In a purpose-driven organization, money can seem like a dirty word. There can be a division between those focused on financials and those driven by purpose. For example, in our company, there was once a clear divide between sales, who talked about “inking deals,” and the rest of the team, who focused on saving families from cancer.
But profit and purpose are not mutually exclusive. Profit is what fuels your purpose, enabling you to invest in research, develop new technologies, and reach more patients. Sister Mary Jean Ryan, former CEO of SSM Healthcare, was the first person I heard say, “No money, no mission.” I’ve heard it from others since first meeting her in 1998, and I think there is no better way to state it.
When considering vendor partners, weak financial viability is a risk for hospitals. Therefore, your organization’s profitability impacts your product’s potential to serve more patients. A healthy company can serve its purpose for years. Therefore, a disciplined focus on financials is critical for a purpose-driven company.
Sometimes, that focus means saying no to opportunities that might feel good for the mission but don’t align with profits. It can be challenging to balance deep discounts or free software with evaluating where money and attention are invested to ensure it aligns with growth. But the focus isn’t just in one direction! There are cases when profit may push a company away from purpose. For example, new business opportunities are often presented to growing companies. Purpose can be a way to critique these new opportunities and determine which among them to pursue or, in our case, best align with saving families from cancer. Cancer gets the most attention within our company, even though other diagnostic areas may be less complex and profitable.
The Operational ROI Of Purpose
Balancing profit and purpose isn’t just about ethical considerations—it also makes good business sense. Companies that successfully integrate purpose into operations outperform their peers in key areas.
For example, one study found that purpose-driven companies report 73% employee engagement compared to just 23% in non-purpose-driven organizations. They also experience a 30% increase in innovation, a 49% improvement in workplace retention, and a 56% success rate in transformation initiatives, compared to just 16% in companies lacking a clear purpose.
Finding The Balance
The McKinsey survey highlights a significant challenge: While many organizations understand the importance of purpose, few succeed in embedding it deeply enough to drive real impact. In the tech industry, this issue feels particularly palpable.
I’m lucky as CEO of Volpara to receive stories from patients about the impact of our software. It’s powerful for our staff to hear and see the faces of the women who tell me our advertising prompted them to get a mammogram, which found cancer early enough to treat. I regularly get “thank you” messages from women informed of their breast density, sent on for an MRI and had cancer detected before they could feel it.
At Volpara, our purpose is a key component in fueling staff dedication and underscoring profitability. Many companies in our space struggle to reach profitability. When organizations strike the right balance between purpose and profit, they can achieve financial success and make a meaningful difference in the world.
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