Clarity of purpose: a compass in the storm

When pressure mounts , organizations with a clear sense of purpose don’t scramble. They lead.

A few weeks ago, Acting United States Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove asked Danielle Sassoon, the interim Attorney General of the Southern District of New York, to dismiss the federal corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams. Sassoon, in short order, resigned. Her 8-page resignation letter was a methodical takedown of Bove’s faulty reasoning. But, more than anything, the letter was a statement of her values and she made it unmistakably clear what she stands for.

Was the moral clarity she demonstrated something she improvised in the moment? Probably not. She was only able to seize this moment of adversity and act on her principles because she had spent her career preparing.

The same goes for nonprofits and philanthropies who are facing an existential test of their own.

The Trump administration has levied a range of threats against civil society, ranging from investigations to rescinded funding. Many organizations are staying silent, fearful of being dealt a fatal blow. Others are scrambling to put together statements that, after all the internal negotiation and risk mitigation, say very little. The stakes are high. The delicate choice between silence and survival is not one to be envied.

What strikes me is that the few organizations that have responded with real conviction in this moment are tapping into a deep well of clarity that was established long before the crisis hit.

Clarity is a rare quality. It is the ability to say, in a single sentence, why your work matters. Not what you do. Not how you do it. But why it matters. Organizations that are strategically or operationally complex are a dime a dozen. The most robust strategic plan and the most sophisticated theories of change are nothing if they are not underpinned by clarity of purpose.

Clarity isn’t something you can cobble together when everything goes sideways. It has to be built and reinforced long before it’s tested.

This is where brand comes in. A brand isn’t a logo, a tagline, a website. It is, at its essence, clarity.

Clarity of purpose.

A good brand helps your organization make pivotal decisions and speak with conviction when your values are tested.

Not all organizations have the power to speak up or the privilege to be heard. But if you are one of the rare ones who have a pedestal and a voice that can be used without fear of retribution, ask yourself: do you truly know who you are? What anchors you when the path forward is uncertain? Why does your work matter?

Yes, sometimes adversity can throw your values into even sharper relief, but rarely is clarity of purpose conjured out of thin air. Danielle Sassoon didn’t falter when faced with a very public test of her principles.

The best of us make it look effortless, but that’s only because they put in the work ahead of time.