I personally believe that purpose-driven leadership is a critical Leadership skill for the years to come. Let me briefly explain my point: whilst Vision is where you want to go, Mission is what you do, Purpose is about why you do it.
Think about the great leaders of yesterday: say Mandela, Gandhi, Jesus Christ. Where do you think their leadership comes from? I suggest it comes from the fact that they really understood their personal purpose, their "why". Leaders who understand their personal "why" then need to engage the whole organisation in the search for their common why, their common purpose. Which needs to be a bottom up exercise, never a top-down one. And when a collective purpose is pursuit, then a long list of leaders emerge. The true purpose-driven leaders understand that this is not anymore about having "my followers", it is about raising the potential leadership skills all of us have. As some authors say, "the reason is simple: in this new world we need not only everybody's head but their hearts as well. In other words, rather then leaders surrounded by followers, the new environment demands leaders surrounded by leaders". Only the "Why" will get you to the heart of people. Here's a pragmatic suggestion: name your next team building exercise "In search of our common purpose".
Is this too poetic? Maybe. Great poems are hard to find - so are corporate common purposes, but, once found, the level of energy and focus is beyond comprehension and success will likely to be around the corner.