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Decision-Making in a Purpose Driven Company

PwC As the focus on purpose moves to the top of the list for the vast majority of business leaders, it is connected to the leadership decision making process only 34% of the time. How does decision-making in purpose driven companies differ from decision-making in other organizations? In purpose driven companies, the guidepost for […]

By Weronika OesterreicherDec 27, 2023

As the focus on purpose moves to the top of the list for the vast majority of business leaders, it is connected to the leadership decision making process only 34% of the time.

How does decision-making in purpose driven companies differ from decision-making in other organizations?

In purpose driven companies, the guidepost for leadership decision making is purpose - nearly 100% of the time. This is the case, because purpose is at the core of the organization and its every decision.

Purpose answers the question asked by Alex Edmans, author of Grow the Pie:

How is the world a better place by your company being here?

Purpose Driven Organizations - Where Purpose Guides All Decision Making

What is the purpose of a business?
A company’s purpose is the reason why a company exists. In purpose driven organizations, this is taken a step further: purpose is what the entire organization is built on and it informs its identity.

What is a business purpose?
The business purpose is the idea or product around which a business has been founded. For a company to succeed, this business purpose has value for founders, investors, employees and consumers alike. Purpose is the driver across the company and at the core of long-term vision as well as day-to-day tasks.

Three pillars of purpose shape a purpose driven company and promote its core values through everyday tasks as well as long term goals:

Meaningful work and knowing that they make a difference in the lives of others, for nature or for science is the “reason to get up everyday” for employees of purpose driven organizations.

Purpose driven organizations perform better financially compared to their competitors, have much less employee turnover and shine with high levels of innovation.

The Value of Purpose for Consumers

A study reveals that when consumers think a brand has a strong purpose, they are: 

Purpose driven brands have a trust advantage with consumers, who are four to six times more likely to purchase, recommend or champion and protect purpose driven companies.

Key Search: Hiring The CMO for a Purpose Driven Company

Chief Marketing Officers have the unique role of defining and sharing the company’s purpose both internally to the employees and stakeholders and externally to customers and business partners.

For purpose driven startups and companies, ensuring the CMO shares the company’s purpose that will be at the core of their day-to-day work and strategic long-term strategy is crucial. Therefore, finding talent that shares this purpose is a key factor during the hiring process.

Key Search helped Berlin-based Afilio hire their Chief Marketing Officer. As a company built around the purpose of provisions planning from healthcare to insurance, finding a CMO who shared the company’s purpose was essential.

"As with most top talent Key Search helps their clients hire, Sarah was not actively looking for a new role. It was the shared purpose that piqued her interest. The CMO position at Afilio meant a role that would be built around a purpose and values that she could personally identify with."

- Sarah

In purpose driven companies, shared purpose is crucial for the company and the candidate. Identifying this in the hiring process is key to a successful placement.

Key Search Hires Leaders for Purpose Driven Companies

To find out more about the Key Search hiring process, our approach and the tools we use to find the right candidates for you. To find out how Key Search can help you hire leaders who share the purpose of your company, let’s have an introductory call.

Enhance your corporate decision-making processes with Key Search. Discover strategies for effective decision-making, leadership decisions, and methods for making informed choices. Our insights help streamline your decision-making processes to align with your company’s strategic goals and drive success.

Written by

Weronika Oesterreicher

Partner | Healthtech, Fintech & Media

Weronika Oesterreicher is a Founding Partner at Key Search and one of Europe's leading executive search specialists in three sectors where she has built deep, first-hand expertise: HealthTech, FinTech & Financial Services, and Media & EdTech. In FinTech, banking, and financial services disruption, Weronika is a trusted search partner for the companies reshaping how money moves. She has placed senior leaders at FinTech innovators and regulated-market disrupters including finmid, Upvest, Börse Stuttgart Digital Ventures, and Bison — as well as established digital finance platforms across Germany and Europe. She is the partner founders and investors turn to when building leadership for embedded finance, digital banking, capital markets technology, and the broader financial services ecosystem. In HealthTech, Weronika is a passionate industry advocate with particular depth in longevity and precision medicine. She has partnered with Maximon and its portfolio companies Avea Life and Ayun Clinic, as well as mission-driven organisations such as Hasso Plattner Foundation's Data4Life. Her ability to identify executives who combine scientific fluency with commercial drive makes her a sought-after search partner for HealthTech founders and investors building the next generation of health infrastructure. In Media, AdTech, and EdTech, Weronika has placed leaders at Rakuten Advertising, Finanzen.net Media, and sofatutor — and understands the dynamics of digital publishing, performance marketing, subscription models, and the evolving content economy. Weronika's primary focus is CEO mandates — helping boards, founders, and investors identify and secure transformational chief executives. She covers the full C-suite and the VP layer that reports directly to the CEO: CTO, CPO, CRO, CSO, CFO, VP Engineering, VP Sales, VP Marketing, VP Product, and further leadership roles where the hire is mission-critical. With over 16 years of executive search experience and a 94% success rate, Weronika applies a diagnostic approach to every mandate — treating each hire as a strategic investment rather than a transaction. She began her career in Finance, Business Planning, and Strategy at global semiconductor and telecoms leaders before moving into the high-velocity startup world, and has lived and worked across Germany, the Netherlands, Monaco, and France. This combination gives her a rare dual perspective on enterprise-level rigour and agile execution — and a refined understanding of European leadership dynamics that few search partners can match.

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