1st Edition

Purpose Meets Execution How Winning Organizations Accelerate Engagement and Drive Profits

By Louis Efron Copyright 2017

    Business today is up against a myriad of complexities -- disruptive competition and technologies, volatile economic forces, and a complex and evolving work force. There is unending pressure to do more with less, deliver short-term goals while driving long-term sustainability, all while finding and retaining the top talent to get it done. 

    Foreword

    Introduction

    Part I: Building an Unshakable Foundation

    Chapter 1: Starting with Purpose

    Chapter 2: Finding Your Way

    Chapter 3: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Purpose

    Chapter 4: Executional Excellence

    Chapter 5: Where Purpose Meets Execution

    Part II: Creating One Team

    Chapter 6: Establishing Trust

    Chapter 7: Accelerating People Engagement

    Chapter 8: Connecting Peoples’ Actions to the Bigger Picture

    Part III: Realizing a Winning Culture

    Chapter 9: Bringing Purpose to Life

    Chapter 10: Keeping Your Promises

    Chapter 11: Getting the Balance Between Purpose and Execution Right

    Chapter 12: Changing the World through Leadership

    Conclusion

    Acknowledgments

    Notes

    References

    Biography

    Louis Efron was head of Global Employee Engagement for Tesla Motors (a role created for him), International VP HR JDA Software, VP HR Stryker, a Fortune 300 medical device company. With Tesla Motors, he launched their first global employee engagement initiative in 2015. The tactics he employed produced measurable systemic and dynamic change. He has worked globally across diverse industries such as entertainment, medical, software, and automotive/technology.

    He is curruntly CEO of the newly founded Purpose Meets Execution, Founder of Louis Efron, LLC, The Voice of Purpose, and author of How to Find a Job, Career and Life You Love. Efron contributes regularly to both Forbes & Huffington Post and is an in-demand keynote speaker, delivering events across the globe. He is known for inspiring audiences to action though meaningful insights that help bring their businesses to the next level.

    Efron is an award winning human resources executive, entrepreneur, writer, theatre director, producer, consultant, speaker and founder of the charity World Child Cancer USA. He has lived and worked throughout the US, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He studied Labor Relations at Cornell University, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and Advanced Leadership at Harvard Business School. He holds a BA from California State University, Fullerton, as well as a BS and JD from Saratoga University School of Law.

    "There are many thought leaders speaking about the transformational qualities of organizational purpose and why it is important, but few can tell you what to do next or how to run a business to fulfill it. Efron can and does. If you want to create a winning organization with sustainable results, you need to read and implement the ideas and steps in this important and timely book."

    - Ann Rhoades,Cofounder of JetBlue, president of People Ink, and author of Built on Values

    "Read Purpose Meets Execution, follow its wisdom, and make your competition irrelevant! Louis Efron’s vast experience and insights (gained across industries) are synthesized into a resource that will help you turn your leadership vision into reality. Purpose Meets Execution offers practical tools and insights for strategic planning, disciplined operations, practical innovation, and sustainable success. What are you waiting for? Isn’t it time to inspire purpose and hardwire operational excellence?" 

    - Joseph Michelli, Ph.D. CCXP, New York Times #1 best-selling author of Driven to Delight, The Starbucks Experience, and The New Gold Standard 

    "What a wonderful book! We all start off with purpose in our businesses and work, a passion for what we do, but that isn’t enough. We need to be able to execute on that passion. In Purpose Meets Execution Louis Efron lays out a clear roadmap for success. It will make you think and it will help you to succeed."

    - Chester Elton, New York Times best-selling author of The Carrot Principle, All In, and What Motivates Me

    "Efron nailed it! Purpose Meets Execution is a game changer for every organization, today and in the future. It is relevant, inspiring, and actionable. You won't find a book that better captures the elements and actions needed for a highly successful and sustainable organizational culture and business. A must read!"

    - Melissa Daimler, SVP, Talent Acquisition and Development, WeWork 

    "Rarely does a book capture why company culture matters like Purpose Meets Execution. Efron not only makes a profound case for how you need to know why you are in business, but also gives crucial, actionable steps that will certainly lead any organization toward thriving well into the future. Those who read this will find more than stories of how others have prospered in business through having a culture of purpose. They will discover how they can begin to write their own story that will impact their own business and the world they have a heart to serve."

    - Ryan McCarty, Cofounder, Culture of Good

    "Purpose Meets Execution: How Winning Organizations Accelerate Engagement and Drive Profits is a great balance of reflective thought and the need to move business forward through action. Louis does an amazing job getting leaders to answer the tough questions for themselves and their business. Given the agility required in today’s environment, it’s critically important for leaders to take the time to find alignment; this book helps them do just that."

    - Lacey Leone McLaughlin, Director, Center for Effective Organizations at the Marshall School of Business, USC

    "Execution on its own isn’t enough. And Core Purpose (your "why") in the absence of "how" isn’t enough either. Louis shares an important perspective, showing us how to engage both the heart—purpose—and the mind—execution—and how to keep them in balance to drive both culture and growth."

    - Cameron Herold,  author of Double Double, Meetings Suck, and The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs

    "Even in today’s hypercompetitive business environment, extraordinary companies aren’t satisfied solely with making a profit. These trailblazing companies tap into the unifying influence of purpose to outperform and out maneuver their competition. If you’re at all interested in catapulting your company to greater heights and inspiring your employees, listen to and act on what Efron has to say about the unifying powers of purpose."

    - Shawn Murphy, Author of The Optimistic Workplace; Founder and CEO, Switch+Shift

    "In an era where "purpose-driven" has become one of the hottest corporate buzz phrases, Purpose Meets Execution provides a valuable service to business leaders: connecting the dots between organizational purpose and operations. The market is flooded with books about purpose, but few of them unlock the difficult challenge of operationalizing purpose by architecting it into your company's systems and processes. Through copious examples and helpful tools, Purpose Meets Execution helps unravel the mystery behind the financially successful purpose-driven organization."

    - Eric Severson, Former Co-CHRO and Senior Vice President, HR Gap Inc.; U.S. Department of Commerce Appointee, United States Department of Commerce; National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

    "Louis Efron's Purpose Meets Execution is an enjoyable book that will inspire the reader to be strategic and intentional when focusing on purpose to drive results. The action items are both digestible and easily executable, and follow from real-world examples that illustrate the importance of a shared purpose in a high-performance work culture. The questions posed at the end of each chapter require introspection, and alone are worth the price of the book!"

    - Matthew Fehling, President and CEO, Better Business Bureau 

    "Purpose Meets Execution provides a refreshing perspective on the topic of business strategy and leadership. Efron does a great job in showcasing a blueprint with which an organization can build a foundation to support high growth, sustainability, and humanity. Stressing the power of influence that leaders have over their company’s culture and work environment, the book provides a toolbox of techniques and tools that will drive positive social and economic change as well as business results." 

    - Dr. Emad Rahim, Kotouc Family Endowed Chair and Associate Professor, Bellevue University; Fulbright Scholar