How Leadership Impedes Meaning and Purpose
Posted on 20th November 2020 at 08:35
Meaning and Purpose are most talked about by leadership as ‘our collective purpose’. Without it, employees struggle to connect their personal meaning to a company’s meaning. However, where I see leadership impede the creation of meaning and purpose for employees is not the absence of carefully worded purpose statements. It is in their day to day actions by;
1) Creating barriers to completing projects: do you slow progress due to your own decision-making process? Are you transparent so your team understands why delays occur? Can you be vulnerable and share that it is you, in fact, who is stuck and why? Without this knowledge, employees are in a frustration loop of working with no ‘success’ of getting things done. This reduces purpose leading to fatigue, lack of engagement and higher potential for burnout.
2) Remaining the ‘owner’ of every project: Without full ownership, meaning and purpose is dampened as the end result still belongs to you; Each project remains your meaning and purpose not that of your team.
3) Not providing fertile ground for individual growth: Are you holding anyone back? Purpose implies direction. Humans seek growth and change. Without forward action, meaning and purpose cannot flourish.
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