How can employees further strengthen their personal purpose?
Personal purpose, in essence, is a lifetime journey. Many individuals make the mistake of believing once they “find themselves” there is no need to further develop or strengthen their personal purpose. This is where a lot of trouble begins for people—where disengagement or disaffection can creep in. We ought to yearn for new experiences, knowledge and acumen whether through projects, roles, rotations, mentors, further education, and so on. People should consciously choose whether to operate with truth or dishonesty, with openness or intolerance, with grit or timidity, with love or hostility. Every decision—every day of our being—is a decision on how we choose to act with personal purpose…or not.What steps can you take if your role no longer suits your personal purpose?
If your role is in direct conflict with your personal purpose (whether by a newly revised personal purpose or because the organization’s purpose has changed) there are really three actions to take. First, quit the role outright and trust yourself to secure employment in an organization and in a role that brings the “sweet spot” back into alignment. I mention in the book that I employed this strategy in 2008. Second, continue to perform in the current role while simultaneously sorting out what role and organization to shift into. This may be more feasible for those who still require the paycheck in order to pay the bills. I also personally employed this option. Third, discuss with your manager the option to either take some holiday time and/or an extended unpaid leave to sort through your options. In any and all cases, I also recommend that you should talk with as many people as possible within their direct network, to ensure all angles, opportunities and options are being discussed before any rash decisions are made, including whether to leave a role or to join a new role.Why is it important for companies to go beyond committing to customer satisfaction (even delighting their customers) in terms of having a purpose-oriented culture?
Customer satisfaction scores (or net promoter scores for some organizations) should be thought of as an outcome of both an engaged culture and a purpose-driven organization. Sadly, far too many organizations treat their customer satisfaction scores as the goal. The goal is not a high customer satisfaction score. Indeed, the goal is not higher shareholder value or return for those companies publicly traded on the stock markets. The goal is to delight your customers, engage with your team members, become ethical within society, deliver fair practices and serve all stakeholders.
