What “Call the Midwife” Taught Me about Purpose
I have a guilty pleasure TV show: Call the Midwife on PBS. Broadly, this long-running BBC series follows a group of nuns and midwives serving a working-class neighborhood in London. We’re now on Season 15! What began in the 1950s has now progressed into the 1970s - a time of major shifts in society and culture.
In the newest season, an episode I watched recently made me think about a challenge many organizations — and many of my clients — are facing right now:
How do you avoid becoming irrelevant in a changing world without sacrificing who you are?
In this latest season, the nuns of Nonnatus House are given an ultimatum. In an increasingly secular society, they’re told that if they want to keep their funding and continue operating as midwives in the community, they’ll need to stop wearing their habits and representing their faith publicly.
What a conundrum! (I’m sorry, I just couldn’t let that pun pass.😂)
Do they sacrifice who they are in order to continue serving the community they’ve supported for decades? Or do they walk away from the work in order to preserve the integrity of their calling and beliefs?
Watching the episode, I was struck by how familiar this tension feels today, even if most organizations aren’t debating religious habits and midwifery licenses.
We are operating in an incredibly fast-evolving world right now. AI may be the loudest force at the moment, but it’s far from the only one. Globalization, shifting workforce expectations, political polarization, economic uncertainty, and rapid technological change are all forcing organizations to adapt.
And they should adapt. Organizations that refuse to evolve often become irrelevant.
But here’s the harder question:
How do you ensure the decisions you’re making to adapt aren’t quietly pulling you away from why you exist in the first place?
This is where mission and values stop being branding exercises and start becoming decision-making tools.
It’s easy for mission statements to become polished language on a website or framed posters on an office wall. But moments of disruption are where the “real” mission reveals itself. When pressure mounts, priorities compete, and the future feels uncertain, leaders are forced to answer:
What are we unwilling to compromise?
What is essential to who we are?
What are we actually here to do?
In the episode, the head nun has an experience that brings her back to the heart of the mission. She realizes that their work is not simply about delivering babies or providing healthcare services. They believe they are called by God to do the work, and if they cannot represent that calling while doing it, then they cannot do the work authentically.
That clarity of mission ultimately drives the decision.
It’s not an easy decision. It may not even be the most practical one. But it is a decision made with integrity and purpose.
And I think that’s the lesson for leaders right now.
A strong mission does not eliminate hard choices. In fact, sometimes it makes them more uncomfortable. But when you are grounded in why you exist and clear on the values that guide you, decision-making becomes less reactive and more intentional.
You may still face uncertainty. You may still need to evolve. You may still disappoint people.
But you are far less likely to lose yourself in the process.
Now, I haven’t watched the rest of the season yet. Something tells me someone is going to swoop in and save the day. There are more seasons ordered, after all! But regardless of how the storyline resolves, the leadership lesson already landed for me.
Your mission, your purpose: these are not “nice-to-haves.” These are your compass in a rapidly changing world that is increasingly uncertain.