Imagine “Alan.” He’s an enthusiastic college grad brimming with promise and passion. Motivating some of your other people can be an uphill climb, but not so with Alan—he’s primed and ready to ascend.
For years, Alan exceeds expectations and over-delivers for every project assigned. Promotions, merit increases, and awards follow him like contrails from a plane on its way to some technicolor destination. What’s more, Alan speaks humbly and passionately of his lofty goals; he seems dead set on seeing them through.
Then something unexpected happens: Alan’s career hits turbulence.
Following years of energy and growth, Alan begins to plateau. He seems bored by his work and even despondent. “What’s it all for, anyways,” he stares at your office ceiling and wonders aloud. “I mean, what impact are we really making in the world?”
The thread is frayed between Alan’s work, its meaning, and his purpose.
His present severed from his future, Alan settles into a monotonous work routine and stops dreaming. Suddenly, his title and bonuses aren’t enough to fill the yawning hole he feels within. Alan’s passion wanes.
Sadly, Alan has joined ranks with some of the “others” you once worried about motivating. What happened?
At some point, we all ask these existential questions about the meaning of our work:
“Is what I’m doing making an impact?”
“Will my work have any lasting effect on the world?”
Or perhaps even more cynically, “What’s the point?”
These are questions of purpose.
Purpose: The North Star
Synonymous with “meaning” or “vision,” our purpose is what author and former CEO Bill George calls our “North Star”: the constant in our lives comprising our values, beliefs, and inspirations. McKinsey research indicates people who “live their purpose” at work boast well-being FIVE times higher than those who don’t. Furthermore, University of Michigan Psychology professor Dr. Victor Strecher found that people who identify their core values (i.e., what matters most to them) are motivated from within to:
- Become their best self
- Live or work with dedicated purpose
- Have increased resilience and job satisfaction
How L&D Can Help
Odds are, you’ve met Alan during a training session or coaching call. As Learning and Development (L&D) professionals, we can help people who feel lost in their career by rewiring the connection between work and purpose.
How?
At my consulting firm, L&D found a unique way to help our employees discover and bring their purpose to any project they’re on. Consulting is a demanding profession; the targets for success can change from client to client. Ensuring our people can see their career’s “North Star” often results in enduring grit, reduced burnout, greater passion, and better delivery for our clients.
How do we do it?
First, our L&D team discusses purpose in onboarding. Every onboarding group participates in a module called, “Finding Your WHY” (a nod to Simon Sinek). We share the aforementioned research on the importance of purpose and exchange stories about how bringing purpose to work buoyed sinking careers. Then we close with a 20-minute, silent activity where everyone reflects on their core values, identifies what makes them tick, and drafts a “WHY” statement.
Second, we ask our new hires to share their WHY statements with their assigned, professional mentors (senior managers). And here’s the key—our mentors also have drafted WHY statements in their own mentorship training. So mentors can form an immediate connection with their mentees around purpose, folding the topic into recurring conversations.
The Results
The results have been beyond what we could’ve expected. More than a quarter of our new hires rated the WHY module as their favorite. Furthermore, we have numerous testimonials about the impact the module has made on their well-being and work:
- “Never ever get rid of the “finding your why” session…That session quite literally changed my life and was one of the best sessions for any sort of training I have been in.”
- “This module makes you take a step back and try to truly understand your purpose in life. We get lost in our day to day and so this was a great time to reflect and find our purpose…”
What You Can Do
So what about you? How can your L&D team leverage purpose to usher in next-level passion at your organization?
STEP 1: DISCUSS and DEFINE corporate and individual core values. These are more than professional buzz words pasted on a cheap company T-shirt or flowery, italicized statements on an Instagram story. Returning to Dr. Strecher’s work, our values combine with our passion to produce our life’s “theme”—what makes us who we are.
- Can your employees name your core values and articulate their meaning?
- Do they know how their individual values intersect with your organization’s?
STEP 2: If your organization and L&D function wants to be fueled by purpose, you must DISCOVER it first. In other words, you can’t give what you don’t have.
- Initiate conversations about your company’s “WHY.”
- Talk about how your organization’s values influence its “WHY.”
- Ask your people to draft their own professional purpose statements; connect them to the company’s vision.
STEP 3: Make it LESS abstract. Concepts such as purpose and meaning can seem ethereal, so bring them down to Earth.
- See the WHY: Put purpose statements in places where everyone can see, remember, and hold themselves accountable to them.
- Share the WHY: From the senior leaders to your frontline managers, facilitate conversations about individual and corporate WHYs. If your people can’t articulate your organization’s WHY or their own, you’re not talking about it enough.
- Order chaos with WHY: When stress or overwhelm arrives, encourage leaders to remember and discuss their WHY as a rallying cry for what they do.
People want to care about their work. L&D can be the guide that helps them connect their passion with purpose. Or if you like, the seafaring captain pointing out the North Star. We remind them that even in the darkest night there is something greater and more illuminating that can lead them along.