Achieving Purpose: Success in Work and in Life

Building purpose into any career path we help a team member pursue can provide a tremendous amount of fulfillment - for them and for us! Over time, the work we do to delegate tasks that provide them with exposure and build their overall skill set will also help us use our own time more effectively as we work toward that purpose driving us. Make no mistake though, it will do anything but save us time on the front end - assuming we’re truly delegating tasks that will stretch them (and helping them actually learn the tasks) rather than simply dumping the work we don’t care for and running away as quickly as we can…

As I mentioned before though, we can’t just hope any of our team members automatically understand why we’re doing this. Not only do we need to be very intentional about setting them up for success as we assign any new task, we need to be very clear in explaining how we believe that task - and the experience they gain through it - can help them reach their own goals. If we’ve done our homework by asking the right questions, listening to their replies, and studying the behavior that backs those replies, we shouldn’t have any issues verbalizing the purpose they’re driven by. And with that in place, connecting each new task we expose them to back to the full impact they can have as they work toward their purpose, it will be clear that we’re not just looking to duck out work we don’t want to do ourselves.

I’ve been blessed by several supervisors, managers, and mentors (who had no positional authority over me at all) who did exactly that for me. Providing me with the opportunities, as well as clarity for how each could help me grow, has opened countless doors throughout my career. From time to time in talking with friends like Kevin, Terry, or Rod (the HR manager who also expected me to produce a measure return on investment), they’ll compliment me and Cindy on something we’re doing. As much as that means to me, because each of them did so much to invest into helping me grow, I believe seeing anything positive we achieve means just as much to them. As leaders, we won’t likely have a shortage of demands on our time but there are very few things that provide the kind of fulfillment that we’ll feel from helping our team members achieve their goals - in their careers and in their lives - as they work toward a clear purpose.

Each piece we’ve worked through to effectively lead our team members with a clear purpose will hopefully help you dial that in for everyone on your team. As you do this, I’m absolutely convinced that you’ll see a tremendous impact on the productivity and profitability within your area of responsibility - be that a small department or throughout your entire organization - and I believe you’ll quickly see how much it helps achieve your organizational purpose. That said, I’ll challenge you to keep a fair level of focus on the individuals in the process. As leaders working to achieve our company’s goals, we’d do well to balance that with how we can continue helping our employees succeed in the process - at work and in life - while they’re working toward a clear purpose!