The Impact of Purpose and Values on Business Strategy

“An integrated purpose strategy focused on the differentiated role a company serves in society is a good business strategy that drives sustainable, long-term value.” - Deloitte

In January, I wrote about putting purpose at the center of your strategy. Your purpose describes why you do what you do – and having a stated purpose gives meaning to the work you do every day.

At AIA, we’ve invested time and energy in developing a clear purpose as part of our overall strategic foundation. Our purpose is to Empower Success for our Owners, Suppliers, and Team. Empowering others is what we do and it’s what we’re passionate about.

A Values-Based Vision for Success

With this clarity, we’ve worked collaboratively across the AIA Community of Owners, Suppliers, and our Team, to identify our strengths and leverage them to our fullest potential. By focusing on who we are and what we believe, we operate as one team – with shared goals – as we pursue our vision: Community Strong, Owner Experience, and Trusted Partner. Taken together, our Vision and Purpose, along with our Values and Brand Strategy, provide our roadmap to success.

Each of our values, for example, uniquely defines what we at AIA believe, just as each provides daily motivation for us to empower success for one another.

Our first core value is to Create the Future. Nurture the Now. We wanted to capture the ultimate balance of planning a bold and ambitious future while delivering on the priorities of the present. It’s essential in our industry to be a step ahead, without losing sight of today’s commitments – and this value reminds us to strive for the right balance. 

Do All Things With Integrity is about doing the right thing – even when it’s not the easy thing. And if we fail, we own up to it, learn from it, and – most importantly – make it right. This is simply how we operate at AIA, so making it a core value came naturally.

Together We Can Face Anything is another value that captures the spirit of the AIA Community. Our work during the challenges of the pandemic and the related supply chain upheaval proved that we can indeed be fearless when we support each other through challenges large and small. We aim for excellence by working together, creating harmony and synergy across our AIA Community. 

Our fourth and final value truly reflects the energy of the AIA Community and brand: Kindness Is Our Superpower. In a competitive industry, we believe in win-win – not win at all costs. We believe that it is through kindness that we can spark connection, earn trust, strengthen relationships and create mutual success. 

Having guardrails like vision, purpose, and values to guide our decisions and actions makes the execution of our brand strategy and implementation of our business plan easier to navigate in a fast-moving industry and rapidly changing world.