In today’s fast-paced environment, it’s easy for even the most visionary leaders to get stuck in the weeds—chasing metrics, managing crises, and reacting to the immediate. But here’s a powerful reminder from the frontline: purpose doesn’t only flow top-down.

In fact, some of your most grounded, purpose-driven leadership may be coming from employees without formal titles.

Last week, we encouraged employees with this advice:

 “Feeling like leadership has lost sight of the bigger picture? Lead from where you are.”

We urged them to:

• Reconnect with what matters most

• Ask mission-aligned questions like, “How does this tie back to our purpose?”

• Model values-based behavior—even in hallway conversations

They’re being called to lead up.

Now, here’s the challenge for you, the CEO:

Are you making space for purpose to rise? Or are you crowding it out with process?

The best organizations cultivate purpose as a shared responsibility—not a poster in the lobby or a paragraph in an onboarding slide deck. When purpose is alive in your culture, employees feel safe and empowered to ask big-picture questions. They step into influence. They hold themselves and others accountable to the mission. And when that happens, innovation, alignment, and loyalty follow.

3 Questions Every CEO Should Reflect On:

1. Do my actions consistently reflect our stated mission and values?

2. When was the last time I invited bottom-up feedback about our purpose alignment?

3. Am I rewarding clarity, courage, and conviction—or just productivity?

Here’s your call to action:

Next week, make time to sit in on a meeting as a listener. Pay attention to who’s asking purpose-driven questions. Notice who’s modeling aligned behavior. Then thank them.

Amplify them. Learn from them.

Because sometimes, the clearest signal of whether a company is truly purpose-driven is not what the CEO says—but what the employees do when no one’s watching.

Want help building a culture where purpose is everyone’s job?
MPWRPeople can support you and your team.