What do they see when they look at you?
The red thread of strategy binds customers, employees, and outcomes as one.
7 minute readIn many workplaces, strategy shows up in subtle signs: the meetings that loop without conclusion, actions that slide week after week, goals half-named and left unmeasured. There’s no malice in it, but there’s just as little love, passion, or purpose either. People arrive on time, say the right things, and shuffle through the day with the sole purpose of killing time until they can go home, free to pursue something they care about.
There’s a reason for this: we’ve mistaken transactions for connection.
A salary, a product price, a contract. They matter, but are not enough to sustain loyalty. Trust, effort and creativity are earned. Not through what we pay or charge, but through the shared meaning we create with our interactions over time.
“Today’s most successful companies understand that you can’t separate your product strategy from your people strategy. Both are held together by a single red thread — a clear, lived sense of purpose. Pull on one end, and the whole thing shifts. What you stand for matters.”
The Strategy Mirror: What People See When They Look at You
Imagine a mirror standing in the centre of your organisation with employees on one side, customers on the other. Each is looking in, trying to see if the story your company tells aligns with their values, their hopes, their experience.
If your strategy is only surface-deep, polished in presentation and empty underneath, that mirror reflects distortion. People sense it and walk away.
But when the reflection is true, when purpose, transparency, and impact run through the core, people stay. They lean in. They trust. That’s what we call strategic alignment.
Try on these examples…
If you fold down the little table on the plane and find a coffee stain, what does that tell you about the engine?
If the reception desk is high, with large monitors obscuring the view to the receptionist, seated low behind it, what does that tell you about that organisation's approach to transparency?
When you wait in person to be served by someone who prioritises an incoming call, what does that tell you about how they value your custom?
If you complete a meeting that started late, with half the people having not contributed, a key contributor having left halfway through and with limited or no actions, what does that say about the company’s values of respect?
“All of our words and actions communicate meta-messages of what we really think.”
Employees as Internal Customers: The Fight for Meaning at Work
We often treat employee engagement as an HR issue. It isn’t. It’s a strategic outcome. It reflects what people feel about the organisation they work for and it’s outside of the control of your strategy leaders.
The stats on work engagement levels are fairly well-trodden ground so we won’t go into them too deeply here. As a flavour of it, a McKinsey report found that 70% of employees define their sense of purpose through work, yet only 18% say they get as much purpose as they’d like (Chow et al., 2021). That gap is where disengagement festers.
Gallup’s global data over the last decade shows engagement plateauing — especially in Europe, where only 13–14% of employees describe themselves as engaged (Gallup, 2023). In the UK, it’s worse: 11%.
So what does disengagement look like?
No one follows up.
No one’s quite sure why the project matters — or they know and don’t care.
The culture values activity over progress, ticking boxes, shuffling paper.
But some companies are changing the script.
One of my executive coaching clients recently began a new role. As part of his onboarding, the company shared a set of values they claimed were core to how they worked. Instead of filing them away, he made them a focus in our coaching sessions — crafting weekly plans that aligned his actions to those values. He sought feedback from colleagues and customers. And then: a breakthrough. A customer sent an unsolicited email, praising his contribution not just for what he’d done, but how he’d done it. His CEO shared it company-wide.
“The alignment on values between company, employee and customer led to purpose that’s real — a red thread of strategy running clearly through both culture and customer experience.”
Customers Want More Than a Product — They Want a Relationship
The same dynamics play out externally. Your brand is no longer judged only by price or features. It’s judged by what you believe in, and whether your behaviour matches your messaging.
In B2B, a Deloitte Digital study of energy and chemical buyers found:
Buyers were 2.7 times more likely to commit long-term to suppliers who supported their sustainability goals.
1.7 times more willing to pay premium prices for sustainable products.
2.3 times more inclined to choose suppliers who cared about people and planet, not just profit (Deloitte Digital, 2023).
In B2C, the gap between perception and experience is clear. While 80% of brand leaders believe they deliver great customer experiences, fewer than 50% of consumers agree (Deloitte, 2022). Yet customers spend 37% more with brands they believe in, those that reflect their values and treat them like individuals, not transactions.
“Customers, like employees, look in the mirror and ask: “Do I see myself in this brand? Does this company treat my loyalty with care?””
Coaching as a Strategic Lever, Not a Personal Perk
In the context of purpose, coaching becomes something more than personal development. It becomes infrastructure — a way to trace and strengthen the red thread of strategy that binds people, culture, and outcomes.
Coaching helps individuals and organisations clarify where they want to be, understand where they are now, and take deliberate action to bridge the gap. It centres on mindful reflection, recognising what’s working and doing more of it, while letting go of what holds us back. At its core, the process uses feedback as a compass, guiding decisions that align with our values and purpose.
Consider the numbers:
80% of coaching recipients report improved self-confidence; over 70% see gains in work performance and relationships (International Coaching Federation, 2023).
The median return on investment (ROI) for coaching is 7 times the initial investment.
Companies with strong coaching cultures are 51% more likely to report higher revenue than industry peers (Luisa Zhou, 2024).
When coaching is embedded — not tacked on — it creates strategic lift:
Leaders make decisions that reflect the company’s purpose.
Employees receive personalised support that aligns values with action.
Teams navigate uncertainty whilst retaining trust and cohesion.
“Coaching is the polish on the mirror, helping people see their role clearly, and play it with confidence.”
When Price and Purpose Collide: What Do You Choose?
Purpose is easy when it's free. It’s tested when it costs.
What happens when:
The sustainable supplier is more expensive?
The inclusive policy slows down hiring?
The authentic decision risks alienating a market segment?
“That’s the real test of strategy. Patagonia’s founder gave away ownership of the company to fight climate change. It wasn’t branding, it was values in action.”
Not every business can afford that scale of sacrifice. But every business can decide what trade-offs it’s willing to make and communicate them transparently. When purpose only applies when it’s convenient, it’s not purpose. It’s PR.
Reflection: What’s in Your Mirror?
Strategy isn’t just about roadmaps, pipelines, or hiring plans. It’s about story. The one you tell your people. The one you tell your market. The one they tell each other.
If strategy is your mirror, what are your employees and customers seeing?
Ask yourself:
Does our internal culture reflect what we sell to the world?
Do our people feel purpose in their work, or are they coasting?
Do our customers trust our message and experience it in practice?
Do we treat purpose as a core principle, or a campaign slogan?
If the thread feels frayed, or the mirror clouded — we should talk.
Steve Dagless
I am the Founder of Your Roadmap - Coaching & Consulting.
Life, work and business can be so simple. Let me help quieten the noise.
Helping leaders find
Balance - working in harmony with the world
Fulfilment - by doing what matters most
Process - to be at their best
Helping business deliver
Strategy - purposefully connecting with ‘why’
Operations - what, when and how; smoothly and simply
Roadmapping - alignment around a compelling visual
References
Chow, R., Purcell, D., & Van Deuren, N. (2021). Help your employees find purpose—or watch them leave. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/help-your-employees-find-purpose-or-watch-them-leave
Deloitte. (2022). 2022 Global Marketing Trends: Thriving through customer centricity. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/articles/us164911_gmt_2022_master/DI_2022-Global-Marketing-Trends.pdf
Deloitte Digital. (2023). B2B Purpose and Trust Study. Deloitte Insights. (Full report available via subscription)
Gallup. (2023). State of the Global Workplace Report. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
International Coaching Federation. (2023). 2023 Global Coaching Study. https://coachingfederation.org/research/global-coaching-study
Zhou, L. (2024). 41+ Life Coaching Statistics You Should Know in 2024. Luisa Zhou Blog. https://luisazhou.com/blog/life-coaching-statistics/
