The Purpose Institute has helped corporations, non-profits, educational institutions and entire geographic regions identify core values and channel their power to make a difference in the lives of the people they serve.
Southwest Airlines
Absent Roy’s moving and idealistic articulation of the overriding, and, indeed, noble, purpose of Southwest Airlines, I doubt that we would be as overtly meaningful to ourselves and others as we are.”
Herb Kelleher
Founder of Southwest Airlines
Walmart
“Save Money. Live Better. Simple words… a profound Purpose. At Wal-Mart, we woke up every day knowing the difference we were trying to make in the world. The Purpose Institute helped us understand the importance of Sam Walton's words and how we should live into them. The support, friendship and encouragement of Roy, Judy and Haley throughout the engagement was special and valued. Just good people doing really good work. We are all better for having worked with them.”
Doug Degn
Executive Vice President, Retired
“The work we did with the Purpose Institute has proven to be some of the most enduring, most impactful work we've done here. A decade ago, in partnership with marketing, our PR team, and many others inside Walmart, the Purpose Institute helped us to bring the inspiring words of Sam Walton to life. The result was a new mission statement and a renewed sense of purpose for 2 million associates worldwide: "We Save People Money So They Can Live Better." The words resonate inside and outside the halls of Walmart as powerfully today as they did when Mr. Walton said them decades ago, and the Purpose Institute was key in helping us to make this project a reality.”
Tony Rogers
CMO, Walmart China
“Haley was instrumental and essential in Wal-Mart detecting and articulating our purpose of "saving people money so they can live better." She's so good at what she does and such an immense pleasure to work with that it would be virtually impossible to separate who she is and what her work is.”
Greg Chandler
Sr. Marketing Director
Whole Foods
“As the founder of Whole Foods Market, I want to leave future generations of leaders and Team Members with a North Star by which to navigate. As we continue to evolve and grow, we want to ensure all of our Team Members are aligned with a Purpose they believe in and are inspired to fulfill in their own particular way for decades to come. While we’ve all known our Purpose implicitly, without the help of Haley & Roy and their team at The Purpose Institute, it’s hard to imagine that we would have arrived at such a concise and authentic articulation of our highest and most noble Purpose. They masterfully captured the passion and commitment of all of our Team Members in a purpose statement that ensures we’ll continue to serve all of our stakeholders and make a positive difference in the world for years to come.”
John MacKey. Co-Founder and Co-CEO
The Clinton Foundation
“Great leaders are leaders of great purpose, in the world of public service and the business world. If you’re looking for a way to inspire people, mobilize the talent and energy of your organization and make a real difference, Roy and Judy will help you do it. I know because Roy and the principles he preaches have helped guide our work at the Clinton Global Initiative and The Clinton Foundation. Having a clear and compelling Purpose has enabled us to unite leaders and citizens from all over the world in order to convert pioneering ideas into solutions with tangible results.”
Bill Clinton, Former President
GE Aviation
“The Purpose Institute helped GE Aviation restate our identity through an intense and exciting transformational effort involving the whole organizational community. They crafted an energizing and thoughtful process where we used the broader employee voice in discovering our Purpose in a distinctive way that ended being a source of pride and action. The effect has been remarkable. The Purpose statement, "We invent the future of flight, lift people up and bring them home safely", has enabled us to align the strategy of our business and employee engagement in a truly compelling way that mobilizes us to do better everyday.”
Raghu Krishnamoorthy. GE, Chief Learning Officer
synchrony financial
“As Synchrony Financial began the journey to separate from General Electric, we were looking for opportunities to describe our new identity. The Purpose Institute did an incredible job of galvanizing our leadership team, pulling us closer together, and helping us define our true purpose and values. Specifically we worked with Haley Rushing from the Institute. In all of my years of working with consultants and facilitators, I put her at the top of the list. She helped us create what is now a symbol of how we operate, how we interact with our customers, and the environment we want our employees to experience. A huge win for our leadership team and business.”
Marc Chini. EVP, Human Resources
Interstate Batteries
“We knew in our hearts that Interstate has been Purpose-driven for 63 years. The Purpose Institute helped us facilitate a multi-stakeholder process that resulted in our Purpose and Values – who we are at Interstate Batteries. We continue to see this deeply resonate with Team Members and partners. This process inspired further focus on shaping our future and has resulted in improved planning, execution and stakeholder engagement.”
Scott Miller. Chief Executive Officer
maryam banikarim
"I have had the great pleasure of working with the Purpose Institute (Roy, Haley, Judy and team) first at Univision, then at NBCUniversal and then finally at Gannett. On each occasion, the businesses were facing unique challenges and having a clear and compelling higher Purpose that everyone rallied everyone was critical to our success. Roy and Haley were instrumental in helping us through the process of uncovering our purpose and beginning to operationalize it within the organization. They have an immense amount of experience which is very helpful to set context.
At Univision, uncovering our purpose allowed us to align our organization. A seminal outward manifestation of this was our ground breaking "user generated" upfront presentation that was based on the company's purpose and was recognized as "the best upfront of the 2007-8 season."
"At NBC Universal, in preparation for the coming together of NBCUniversal and Comcast, articulating the new company’s Purpose and Values enabled everyone--from the day the two companies came together—to rally around a single vision and focus on what matters most to grow the business.
At Gannett, our purpose rallied an organization that was going through significant transformation. Purpose was a significant factor in the turnaround of the business -- showing not only impact in terms of employee morale but also in terms of share price.
All that aside, the most importantly thing I can say about the Purpose Institute team is that they are smart, insightful and always a pleasure to work with.
Maryam Banikarim
Former CMO of Univision, NBC Universal and Gannett
presently Global CMO of Hyatt
Texas A & M University
“Everyone knew Texas A&M was a great brand, but it suffered from a lack of real distinction, particularly for those with no A&M DNA. The Purpose Institute led us to better understand ourselves, and Haley’s insight in defining our purpose and values has created a solid foundation for our future. Let’s hear it for 'leaders of character dedicated to serving the greater good'!”
Steve Moore, CMO Texas A&M University
NATIONAL RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION
“Roy Spence and Haley Rushing helped electric cooperatives from all across the country articulate a common purpose that helped unify 900 utilities serving over 40 million consumers. They brought passion and structure to a process that has refocused an entire industry segment on what really matters.”
Mike Williams
President & CEO
Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc.
BALFOUR BEATTY CONSTRUCTION
“Haley Rushing and the Purpose Institute were a wonderful partner to Balfour Beatty Construction and led us to discover our Purpose. That Purpose is now our True North, our Why? and our call to action with our clients and those we support. Haley and her team were very thorough and thoughtful with every employee to ensure we got it right. The Purpose and Values she unearthed reflect who we are when we're at our best. Today, it is the centerpiece of who we are and every employee knows it, can visualize it, embraces it and most importantly delivers on it!”
Eric E. Krueger, Senior Vice President, Central Region
“My experience with The Purpose Institute was life-changing, both professionally and personally. On a professional front, I was able to partner with leaders across Balfour Beatty’s national business to define a purpose which employees and business partners found deeply fulfilling as a defining benchmark for future strategy and growth. Personally, it led me to have the courage to take a leap of faith, moving towards a new career I’d long dreamed of. Today, I’m smack center in a new role which not only aligns to my professional expertise, but to my heart’s passion as well. Life is good when you’re purpose driven.”
Connie Oliver, Former VP, Corporate Communications