When Organizational “Higher Purpose” Fails
As a leader, you set the focus for your team or organization.
Now, maybe you have a big vision – to end world hunger, promote world peace, or get people to use less plastic and save the dolphins. If so, sign me up. I’m a higher purpose guy, I wrote a book about it after all.
Or maybe you don’t care about any of that. People can starve and nations can pummel each other into the dirt for all you care… just as long as your team can sell 43.5% more dolphin-choking plastic widgets this fiscal quarter than in the previous one.
Ok, I put a thumb on the scales thanks to my personal bias and well-honed sense of self-righteous fervor. Please try and look past that for a moment.
In fairness, maybe you don’t look for a higher purpose at work and you don’t need to. You make meaning outside of work in your family, or at church, or in creating a hot new dubstep mix (whatever that is). Or maybe you are fulfilled in a job well done, hitting a big goal, or performing at your best.
My point is: as the leader, you set the priorities. You determine the team’s main focus.
One thing many leaders fail to understand is just what their people are truly motivated by. Like me, you might be driven by a sense of mission and you want others to experience the same thing. Inspiring others with a big and meaningful vision comes naturally to you.
Some people are starving for this, they are lit up by a leader who can articulate a higher purpose. These people have the Leadership Language of “Purpose.”
The problem here is, some of your team members may speak almost the opposite Leadership Language. You may be leading some who are motivated by the language of “Performance.”
These people want a leader who respects their time and allows them to get their work done as efficiently as possible. They want a leader who will help them build a bridge that actually stands up. This achievement alone is satisfying enough for them.
They don’t need their boss to try and give their work meaning.
They don’t want to have time-consuming conversations that don't feel immediately relevant to their performance goals… or to have to sit through yet another one of your three hour presentations for the next twenty decades, somehow involving dolphins.
By the way, don’t take offense. I love dolphins and I’m all for them not dying. And I’m sure these people don’t want them to die either. My point is, the people I just described aren’t motivated more when this is layered on top of their job.
These meaning-making efforts may cause them to become frustrated and lose patience… and longer term, they’ll feel they don’t fit within the organization.
Now, I’m not telling you to stop with the dolphin-laced presentations. After all, having a purpose beyond money is increasingly a big differentiator for organizations. But it may not be motivating to everyone in the same way.
The point is to “tune in” to the language members of your team resonate with the most, and speak that language.
If some of your team members need to be inspired by a higher purpose, but your language revolves mainly around performance… those people may feel uninspired and lose heart. They might see you as short-sighted, too obsessed with plastic stuff. Eventually they will search for a more purpose-driven work environment.
On the other hand, if some on your team are driven by performance, but you’re speaking to them primarily in terms of higher purpose… they may tune out, lose patience, become frustrated… and sooner or later, they’ll look for a more performance-based place of work.
This is why it’s important to use my quiz and find out what language each team member will “tune in” to the most.
