"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." - Mark Twain
Reflection on Last Week
How did the looking after yourself exercise go?
Today's Agenda
Why you should think about your own purpose
Why you should help your team focus on purpose
What is your purpose?
Action planning
Leaders in Action Admin
Next week Overview
The Evolution of Purpose
Purpose appears to have evolved in humans so that we can accomplish big things together.
Associated with better physical and mental health.
Key Question: Does my job matter?
Victor Frankl on Success
"Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it."
"For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue."
Success is the unintended side effect of dedication to a cause greater than oneself or surrender to a person other than oneself.
Source: Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
Job, Career, or Calling
Job: Financial goals, compliance
Career: Accomplishment, success, advancement, development, sense of worth or status (identification)
Calling: Tasks have inherent meaning (internalization)
Attributes of Purpose:
Positive impact on well-being of others
Associated with an important virtue or value
Extends beyond the immediate time frame
Belonging and having a sense of community
Identification and Agency
Does what I do matter for the organization?
Linked to agency and autonomy.
Do people know what your organizations goals are?
Do they know what your teams goals/priorities are?
Do they know how their goals tie into the team goals?
Do we actively manage performance in line with those goals?
Quote from President John F. Kennedy: "By making our goal more clear, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we help people see it, to draw hope from it and move them irresistibly toward it."
Impact of Meaningful Work
Reductions in:
Stress
Depression
Turnover
Absenteeism
Dissatisfaction and cynicism
Increases in:
Commitment
Effort
Engagement
Empowerment
Happiness
Satisfaction
Sense of fulfillment
Health Outcomes:
Contributing related to better health outcomes (kidney dialysis, cancer suffers)
2x as good as taking a disprin for reducing coronary heart disease.
15% increase in meaning, decreases heart attack by 27% and stroke by 22%.
Telomeres longer!
Purpose helps us live longer.
Teams and Purpose
Higher social diversity can lead to:
Perceived discomfort
Rougher interactions
Increased interpersonal conflict
Concern about disrespect
Less trust, communication, and cohesion
Having a clear sense of purpose can make diversity work
Productivity and Performance
1.5x the productivity in routine work
30% higher performance
Albert Einstein on Life
"I believe in one thing - that only a life lived for others is a life worth living."
Finding Your Purpose
Understand yourself and your passions.
Passions show the way to the purpose of your leadership.
Questions to Consider
Why do you do what you do?
Why do you want to do this leadership thing?
Why are those things important to you? What’s your life story that makes that important?
How can you stay connected to your why?
Re-crafting the way you talk about work to be in line with strengths, values or your why
Looking for the feedback or stories that reconnect people
Write it down!
Max Weber's Framework
A diagram showing the intersection of:
What are your talents?
What does the world need?
What do you enjoy doing?
These intersect to reveal:
Your calling
Your mission
Your passion
Profession
Invictus
Poem by William Ernest Henley about inner strength and resilience.
Key lines: "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."