Finding Your Purpose, Both As Company, And As A Leader
Why Purpose Matters
Truly successful leaders are not motivated purely by financial gain. They are driven by a deeper sense of purpose. That purpose may be something technical, like the joy of mastery of a craft or skill. Or it may be something social, like the support of a particular social group. Or it may be a set of values such as justice, freedom, or compassion. But whatever it is, the pursuit of purpose has been a driving force behind the development of humanity since the dawn of civilization.
The people with whom I have worked that have had the most success in their lives, all have a strong sense of purpose. Money is not their prime motivator. Sure, they need a certain amount of income to survive, and usually are able to generate an income far beyond mere subsistence. But the pursuit of financial gain itself does not take the first position in their list of priorities. Their purpose holds that treasured position. All else is secondary.
They aren’t afraid of making money. Nor do they feel guilty about it either. Financial security flows from the relentless following of purpose like the tides follow the moon. But happiness comes first, and happiness emerges naturally from following a sense of purpose. It may be the tides that are most visibly obvious to the rest of us, so that we tend to see other people’s success in terms of their wealth. But for the truly successful, that’s not really what life is about.
Purpose is also critical for successful organizations. Steven Covey, in his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, said that an organizational mission statement (a kind of purpose) creates great unity and tremendous commitment. It creates in people’s minds a frame of reference by which they will govern themselves.
Dan Pink, in his best-selling leadership book, Drive, said that it’s always been in our nature to seek purpose. But that nature is now being revealed and expressed on a scale that is demographically unprecedented. This recognition was part of his celebrated triad of concepts that lay behind the intrinsic motivation of successful individuals, teams, and organizations: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. We’re going to explore mastery and autonomy more in this course. But right now, we’re focused on purpose.
Some of the greatest organizations in modern history have been companies that follow the teachings of the originator of Lean and continuous improvement, W. Edwards Deming. From Deming, we learn:
“A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system...A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system. The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgement.”
- Out of the Crisis
Later, the Toyota Motor Company built on Deming’s work. Perhaps no other company exemplifies a relentless focus on purpose than Toyota. That’s probably why they managed to achieve profitability every year since 1950, interrupted only briefly during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.
Authors Jeff Liker and Gary Convis of the Toyota Leadership book series challenge us to think about leadership in terms of continuous improvement:
“What type of leader do you want? What do you need to do to ensure zero defects in your leadership capacity?”
- The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership
We are challenged to ask ourselves how we align our company mission and values with our recruiting, training, and development of leaders.
Purpose and Flow
Working toward a purpose can help us achieve a flow state. A flow state was first popularized by social psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and is colloquially thought of as being in the “zone”. A flow state is defined as “the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.” According to Csikszentmihalyi, when we choose a goal and invest in it to the limits of our concentration, whatever we do will be enjoyable.
The leadership literature is replete with references to flow states. For instance, leadership guru Robert Kaplan asks us to consider whether or not we are “pursuing a path that is consistent with [our] strengths, weaknesses, and passions? If not, what are [we] waiting for?”
Similarly, in The Big Leap, Gay Hendrix defines a similar concept to a state of flow, which he calls “the Zone of Genius.” It’s described like this: What is the one thing you love doing that you can do all day without getting either tired or bored. The Zone of Genius is a helpful framework because it allows us to understand clearly when we are not in a state of flow so that we can do something about it.
Distractions Are Everywhere
Many things in our jobs challenge us for our attention. Not all of those things are in alignment with our purpose. Many of them may not be in alignment with the organization’s purpose either. How do we deal with this situation?
Greg McKeown says if you don’t prioritize your time, someone else will do it for you. His book Essentialism issues a stark challenge to any of us who wish to live a life in pursuit of a purpose: Remove everything from your life that is not essential.
McKeown suggests that if you are asked to do something, if it isn’t a clear “yes”, then it is a clear “no.” There is no room for maybe. This is of course difficult to do because it requires saying “no” to people. When was the last time you said no to a boss, colleague, or even a loved one?
Yet, saying no can be a powerful way to embrace your sense of purpose. Saying no to people often requires trading popularity for respect. Which would you rather have?
Having a clearly defined purpose both for yourself and your organization is one of the key determinants of whether you will be successful. If you haven’t already, it’s time to give some serious attention to discovering your purpose.
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