It's trendy right now for leadership teams to craft lofty statements of purpose. But Darci Darnell, a Bain partner and coauthor of the new book Winning on Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers, says the organizations that succeed in inspiring their teams with the company's sense of purpose don't just craft these mission statements, they help employees understand their role in these missions.

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Despite the pressing challenge of digital native insurgents, incumbent companies have struggled to shift to a customer-centric strategy, fearing shrinking shareholder returns and being weighed down by operational hurdles. However, Maureen Burns, a Bain Partner and coauthor of the new book Winning on Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers, says there is no tradeoff between doing well for shareholders while still delivering for customers.

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A central theme in Fred Reichheld's new book, Winning on Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers, is purpose. For Fred, a well-defined company purpose is the engine that drives success. But it's not enough. To succeed, an organization's No. 1 goal should always be to make customers' lives better.

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After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, USAA took a public stance on racial justice. But Tony Wells, USAA's chief brand officer at the time, says the organization's conversation began privately. Given the company's history of strong internal communication and employees' deep sense of mission, Wells believed that they were set up for successful discussions and change.

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It's tempting to attribute USAA's success to its special expertise in serving military personnel. But Tony Wells, USAA's former chief brand officer, says it comes down to empathy for the unique challenges members face. In this episode, Tony shares how USAA lives its mission every day, how the company quickly adapted to support employees and customers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and how it continues to prepare for disruption.

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Former tech executive Kara Goldin, author of the new book "Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts And Doubters," shares the story behind Hint Water: How her quest to find an alternative to diet soda led to the creation of an entirely new type of beverage. Her story reveals how persistence and a singular focus on meeting core customer needs can result in outsized success.

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The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), now part of NatWest Group, is older than some of the world's countries. For much of that time, the very essence of the bank was to put its customers first. But in more recent history, the storied bank had lost sight of that mission, says Paul Smith, director of customer insights and marketing at NatWest Group. In this episode of the Net Promoter System podcast, Paul talks about the journey back: From an old-line and challenged bank into a customer-focused organization that is now part of NatWest Group.

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Few people are loyal to a body shop. Instead, people find them, literally, by accident: after a fender bender, most customers select a shop from their insurer's direct repair program. But when Steve Grimshaw, executive chairman of Caliber Collision, first took over as CEO of the body shop company in 2009, he realized that with repair experiences often driving insurer policy renewals and most body shop business coming from insurer referrals, customer satisfaction matters a lot.

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Lori Cobb found her passion in a leadership role at Cummins Inc. that included responsibility for customer experience and insights: "I love solving problems, and I particularly enjoy solving customer problems," she says. "And customers were hungry to have somebody just listen to what their needs are." Today, she's CEO of Mockingbird Ventures and a principal of AIM Advisory Services. In this episode, she shares some of the lessons she learned on her journey into customer centricity.

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Darrell Rigby believes passionately that Agile is the future. "I do believe that this is the way that companies will be run going forward." His biggest fear, though, is that "there's a lot of Agile that's being done wrong. If we don't fix that, then Agile is likely to turn into the next management fad." Coauthor of a new book, Doing Agile Right, Darrell leads Bain & Company's Agile practice. He joined me to discuss how, when done right, Agile creates a culture obsessed with customer satisfaction.

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