CHAPTER TEN
THE PURPOSEFUL LEADER
A Purpose Checkup
Money, medicine, and meaning are essential to true engagement. Every person is driven, deep down inside, to discover what is truly meaningful, and we are incapable of being happy until we find it. Meaning matters.
I have not met a single leader who doesn’t have a clear gut feeling for the difference between what’s meaningful and not meaningful. We may get sidetracked from time to time with activities that are purely self-serving, but their very nature is that we get tired of them—their meaninglessness is unavoidable.
What does it take to engage people today? First it takes being engaged. One big difference between the success and the failure of leaders can be traced to their own engagement. Purposeful engagement usually accompanies greatness in anything, and it is largely responsible for the passion found in high-performing people.
Recently, His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited my home state of Minnesota to give a series of talks and was asked what he thought was the best way to teach your children to lead an ethical way of life. “It doesn’t matter what you tell them,” he responded. “They will watch and imitate you. They will do what you do, and so you are faced with the hardest task of all—to be ethical yourself.”
A primary role of leaders today is to face the ultimate test of leadership—“to be purposefully engaged.” We must be clear that leadership respect is earned from the inside out. Respect comes from first asking ourselves (and answering) the tough meaning questions.
Talented people instinctively seek a work environment where they know they will have a full voice in matters of consequence. They seek a workplace where they don’t feel constricted, where they don’t have to check themselves at the door. Such a work environment lets them breathe life into their work. If they don’t find an environment that feeds their hearts and souls, all they’re left with are paychecks, and that’s not enough for most talented people today. Put purpose-driven talent up against people who simply work for a paycheck, and who do you think will succeed?
During my thirty-plus years as an executive coach, I have been continually impressed with the courage that purposeful leaders have for holding up the mirror to look inside themselves first. They understand that the “who” is leading is as important as the “what” is being achieved. The “who” always trumps the “what” of leading.
“What Gets You up in the Morning?”
Purpose goes by many names and descriptions, and a fair number of researchers and thought leaders have explored it. I refer to purpose as “your reason for getting up in the morning.”
In his book Servant Leadership, Robert K. Greenleaf urged leaders to go “beyond conscious rationality” and to go into the “uncharted and unknown” to lead from within.1 Our purpose is our personal mission; it is the central quality or essence that is revealed in our leadership, and it is always larger than we are. It inspires us, of course, but it is also the central quality that inspires others.
Greenleaf wrote, “Serving and leading are still mostly intuition-based concepts.” He believed that self-insight is “the most dependable part of the true servant.”2 By finding and leading from the purpose deep within us, we can meet Greenleaf’s criteria for servant-leaders: “Those served grow as persons.”3 To be purposeful leaders we must be willing to look inside, to understand “what gets us up in the morning” and to lead from it.
What Is Purpose?
Those of us who wrestle with understanding purpose, despite the disparity of our language, seem to agree on at least these two lines of belief:
1. Purpose is not invented; it is uncovered.
Stephen Covey, author of the hugely popular and bestselling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, states, “I think each of us has an internal monitor or sense, a conscience, that gives us an awareness of our own uniqueness and the singular contributions that we can make.”4
Purpose is within us. It is waiting to be uncovered. Purpose is a calling; thus, uncovering it is an act of listening rather than inventing.
Purpose directs our decisions about what to do, when we do it, and when we let go or turn away from it. Purpose is the quality we shape our leadership around.
2. Purpose is “concrete assignment.”
Viktor Frankl, who might be considered a founder of modern thinking about purpose, expounds on the subject: “One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.”5
Purpose is an external expression of our gifts, our talents. It infuses our work and is not solely within us or for ourselves. Our calling is our gift to the world, and our leadership is our unique and tangible way in which the gift is given.
We do not pursue our purpose because it is strictly self-fulfilling, nor because it is rewarding in the conventional terms of power or influence. We pursue it because we must.
Why Should I Care?
Today’s talent doesn’t blindly follow. They are educated, street smart, globally wise, and connected. Their engagement is dependent on the respect they have for us as leaders. They are yearning for purposeful leaders—leaders who care.
Most people have a keen awareness of “caring” when it is present in our leaders, and we have an uneasy feeling of engagement when it is absent. Let’s assume for a few minutes that you have been asked to interview your new leader. What would you want to know about him or her as a leader? Assume you know the basics of the person’s résumé: work history, age, family, and so forth. What would you want him or her to know about you?
Purpose is connected to caring, and caring is essential to engagement. Do we have a reason to get up in the morning? Do we, while also savoring our lives, have a reason larger than ourselves for leading? As renowned American author E. B. White captured it, “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”6
EXHIBIT 10.1 THE PURPOSE CHECKUP
Many of us accept the necessity of regular physical checkups. We’re also generally willing to review our financial situation with some regularity.
So if money, medicine, and meaning are all essential to a purposeful life, we might be wise to take guidance from the financial and medical worlds and adopt the practice of a regular checkup on that third dimension to ensure that our spirit—our sense of purpose—remains healthy.
Please read each statement carefully and take a few moments to decide on a true response for yourself. Then write the number that most nearly reflects that response. The answers offer the following range of responses:
1. Definitely disagree
2. Somewhat disagree
3. Somewhat agree
4. Definitely agree
Having (Outer Life)
_____ I derive satisfaction from what I have in my life.
_____ I express my creativity in a number of ways.
_____ I have found ways to offer my gifts and talents to the world.
_____ I have a positive vision for my future.
_____ I feel satisfied with my location.
_____ My physical energy is vital.
_____ I feel satisfied with my personal relationships.
_____ Total Having score
Doing (Inner Life)
_____ I follow my purpose when making major decisions.
_____ I feel content when I am alone.
_____ I focus and think clearly.
_____ I have the courage to face adversity.
_____ I offer compassion to others readily.
_____ I offer forgiveness to others easily.
_____ I am growing and developing.
_____ Total Doing score
Being (Spiritual Life)
_____ I sense the presence of a Higher Power.
_____ I have a regular spiritual practice.
_____ I feel a sense of the sacred when I am in the natural world.
_____ I feel a sense of gratitude for my life.
_____ I maintain a balance of saving and savoring the world.
_____ I invest time in making a difference to others or to the world.
_____ I know what I want to be remembered for.
_____ Total Being score
_____ Total Purpose Checkup score
Interpretation
Having (Outer Life)
The dimension of your external experience and activity—how effectively you relate to the “having” choices in your life.
Doing (Inner Life)
The dimension of your internal experience and inner activity—how effectively you relate to the “doing” choices in your life.
Being (Spiritual Life)
The dimension of your invisible experience and spiritual activity—how effectively you relate to the “being” choices in your life.
Scoring
Your score in each section is one measure of your development in that dimension. Your total Purpose Checkup score (out of 84) gives a measure of the power of purpose you are experiencing in your life at present.
Use this review worksheet to check in with yourself yearly, perhaps every year on your birthday!
Source: Used with permission from The Power of Purpose by Richard J. Leider (Berrett-Koehler, 2010).
The Ultimate Test for Leadership: Success with Fulfillment
What truly matters in life, according to Viktor Frankl, Nazi concentration camp survivor and author of the classic book Man’s Search for Meaning, is not the meaning of life in general, but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment. To restate: “One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment.”
When we lead on purpose, we aren’t motivated exclusively by external wants like money or influence. We are motivated from within—and stand a far better chance of being successful in our leading and fulfilled in our work. The ultimate test for leadership is this: “Can we look back at our lives and achieve success and fulfillment from the reality that we have made a purposeful difference in people’s lives?”
We know inside ourselves, if we have spent our work lives working on our “concrete assignment,” we can look back with pride, for this is the real meaning of a human life. This is the ultimate wealth.
Richard J. Leider is a pioneer in executive coaching. Forbes and other media have repeatedly cited him as one of the top coaches in the world. Founder and chairman of The Inventure Group, he is a best-selling author and speaker to thousands of people worldwide each year. His clients include many of the world’s leading organizations. He is the author of eight books, including three best sellers. His work has been translated into twenty-one languages. Repacking Your Bags and The Power of Purpose are considered classics in the career development field. He is a Senior Fellow in the acclaimed University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing and is an Executive Fellow in the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Along with his professional pursuits, Leider leads yearly Inventure Expedition walking safaris in East Africa. Believing passionately that each of us is born with a purpose, he is dedicated to coaching executives to discover the power of purpose. Contact www.inventuregroup.com or www.richardleider.com.
Notes
1. R. K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (New York: Paulist Press, 1977), 26.
2. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership, 28.
3. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership, 27.
4. Steven Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Free Press, 2004), 128.
5. Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, rev. ed. (New York: Pocket Books, 1997), 172.
6. E. B. White, quoted in profile by Israel Shenker, “E. B. White: Notes and Comment by Author,” The New York Times (July 11, 1969).