Your Company's Soulless If It Lacks These 3 Things — Here's How You Can Fix It Success and growth can leave a company's purpose muddy or pulled into multiple directions. Even when things change, or you are unsure why you do what you do, here's how to stick to your deeper purpose.

As businesses grow, many entrepreneurs worry about losing touch with their company's original purpose — its soul, if you will. Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati wanted to understand the problem better, so he interviewed 65 CEOs of fast-growth ventures.

"I came to realize very quickly that there's a tension between wanting to be grown up and big, but not losing that entrepreneurial spirit," he said. "I found many of them lamenting 'the good old days.'"

Gulati kept researching, and ultimately came to a solution: To stay true to their company's mission, even as their business grows and becomes more structured, leaders must understand what he calls their "deep purpose."