Inspired and resilient workforces are led by a sense of purpose rather than the efforts of one or more individuals. Ultimately “purpose” is the one point of connectivity that we want to create within an organization. Not only does it create meaning for the work we are all doing together, it also makes people feel proud of the organization we are working for. It is the basis for all effective employee engagement efforts.
When we are emotionally involved in our work our creativity really comes out. We naturally want to invest more of ourselves into our jobs, rather than just “showing up” to make a paycheck. This authentic purpose is not only logical but felt emotionally and physically.
Connected leaders can help inspire this authentic purpose and increase employee engagement within organizations by:
- Staying present to the personal purposes of individuals
- Show how those priorities intersect with the purposes of the enterprise
- Communicating authentic purpose as the source of our drive to achieve
- Articulating goals as a means of clarifying measurable achievement of our purpose
- Allowing creativity in methods: so we all are involved and innovative in how we’ll get there
As Colin Oliver, former Asia Pacific Leadership and Development Director for Hewlett Packard, explains, “Short terms goals are great but they can actually lead to long-term pain. Whereas having a long-term vision of where you want your organization to be and going down that journey can actually achieve all those short-term goals.” It might take a bit longer, but with this approach, it will be sustained time and time again.
Make purpose the boss, and inspired work will follow.
