Lean Quote: Help People See the Bigger Purpose for Endless Happiness

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"When we work for a bigger purpose, we find an endless supply of happiness at work."   —  Jon Gordon, author and motivational speaker

Great leaders regularly bring people closer to their purpose and the purpose of their work. If the vision for the organization is not inspiring—or is only to make a profit—it is pretty challenging to inspire others and get them to rally around it.

Employee engagement research states that for people to feel a connection with their work, they need to be able to envision themselves achieving purpose at work. An astute leader nurtures alignment among their workforce by linking the key performance indicators of each role in the organization to the overall key performance indicators and objectives of the business.  When people are able to “connect the dots” from what they do each day to how it impacts the customer—and maybe even the world at large—they are much more engaged and concerned for what they do and how well they deliver it.

Here are some ways to help people see the big part they play:

• Always connect the mission with the numbers. Balance communication about profits or margin with stories about the real difference you’re making with customers.
• Company culture is about regularly talking about the mission of the organization and connect people’s jobs to the mission.
• Have each person write their own job purpose, not just from a function perspective, but from their relationship with the client/customer. Write out your own as a leader too!
• Keep supporting people to see the line of sight between their job and what really matters. Keep connecting the dots. How does what they do really matter.
• Make sure every meeting highlights some way your people have really made a difference in the lives of real people–EVERY MEETING