The topic of our next four-part series is purpose. In the first two posts we’ll focus on individual purpose, while the last two will focus on purpose within organizations. While purpose is admittedly a well-worn topic, it’s an essential one, and we’re confident you’ll appreciate our unique perspective on it.
Finding your purpose may sound cliché—and in many ways it is. But purpose still matters. A lot.
Humans are meaning-seeking machines. We want to believe that what we’re doing has some greater significance. In the face of uncertainty and life’s many ups and downs, the feeling that we matter can bring great comfort. The vast majority of people don’t want to feel like they’re simply coasting through life, accomplishing enough to meet their basic needs but little more than that.
“Our seeking systems create a natural impulse to explore our worlds, learn about our environments, and extract meaning from our circumstances,” writes professor of organizational behavior Dan Cable in his book Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do.
“When we follow the urges of our seeking system, it releases dopamine—a neurotransmitter linked to motivation and pleasure—that makes us want to explore more. . . . When our seeking system is activated, we feel more motivated, purposeful, and zestful. We feel more alive.”
To be clear, this absolutely doesn’t mean we can only say we have a purposeful life if we’re accomplishing dramatic feats. Far from it. Being a dedicated parent, friend, or member of a community are all purpose-activating efforts—arguably the most valuable of them.
Nevertheless, most people also want to feel a sense of purpose in their jobs, the place where they spend the majority of their hours each day. Being able to isn’t only good for them, but their employers as well. Research makes this crystal clear.
Discover the Essence of Purpose-Driven Leadership
In my 2021 book To Be Honest: Lead with the Power of Truth, Justice and Purpose I cite several studies (out of hundreds, if not thousands) on the value employees who believe they have a long-term purpose bring to the table. Here’s just a small sampling of them:
- In a 2016 survey of LinkedIn members seeking employment, 74 percent said they placed a high value on finding work that delivers on a sense of purpose.
- A 2017 Great Place to Work survey found that employees who report that their job has a “special meaning” and that it “is not ‘just a job'” are four times more likely to give extra, 11 times more committed to staying with their organizations, and 14 times more likely to look forward to coming to work than employees at peer companies.
- Research by Bain partners and coauthors Eric Garton and Michael C. has found that if a satisfied employee’s productivity level is 100 percent, an engaged employee’s level is 144 percent, but the productivity level of an employee that is truly inspired by a sense of purpose is a mammoth 225 percent.
Two things can be true at once: 1) purpose is essential and 2) the conversation around it has become far too inauthentic.
Finding Your Purpose in the Real World
Fortunately, there are proven ways to find your purpose in the real world, and in a way that’s sincere. Here’s some advice to help you do just that.
1. You Don’t Have to Save the World (Unless You Really Want To)
Who doesn’t want to see child poverty crushed and peace brought to all nations? I certainly do. But if you’re claiming the protein bar you’re selling can do both these things, more than likely you’ve lost the purpose-plot.
At the very least, you’re all but guaranteed to earn eye rolls from cynical would-be customers who’ve been purpose-burned ten many times. (We’ll take a deeper dive into this trend, known as “purpose washing,” in a later installment in this series.)
“Having a purpose” doesn’t need to be dramatic or flashy. You’re not a landmine-clearing specialist (well, most of you probably aren’t; if any landmine-clearing specialists are reading this, I salute your incredible work!). And that’s okay!
It’s unfair and, frankly, dishonest to insist that someone’s job is the sum of their moral value. This is an impossible burden that few people can meet.
What’s far more reasonable, and doable, is striving to work in a role that a) makes good use of your unique talents; b) you enjoy; and c) allows you to solve someone else’s problem. These are the ingredients a purposeful life is made of. If you’re already there, congrats!
If you’re not there, a good round of self-reflection is a great way to start your journey. Sometime soon (how about this week?) block out some time to sit and think about your purpose in life and work. These three simple but probing questions can help you begin the excavation process:
- What am I good at?
- What do I love doing?
- What does the world need that I can offer?
Chances are your answers will be on a spectrum from highly practical to highly impractical.
That’s fine. But some of the responses probably do overlap. Use these as an entry to brainstorm further. Eventually you’ll arrive at answers that intersect with all three criteria. Somewhere in this nexus lies your purpose.
The best answers may not set the deepest parts of your soul aflame. Remember, though, that this is an exercise to help you spend your limited hours in this world in a meaningful way, not an invitation to a midlife crisis.
Of course it’d be fun to take up the drums and join a touring band. But how likely is that to happen? (Not to mention, you should probably first start by taking drum lessons to see if you like them.)
“The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.”
– Thomas Carlyle
2. Become Your Own Purpose-Seeking Experiment
Self-help and business literature are overflowing with formulas and templates for discovering your life’s purpose. They imply that finding your purpose is akin to following a difficult soufflé recipe—it’s hard, but if you follow the instructions, it won’t fall in.
Alas, nothing could be further from the truth. Finding your purpose, and then connecting it to the larger purpose of the organization you’re a part of, is an ongoing pursuit, often a lifelong journey. It’s a messy process of trial and error.
There are the triumphs: moments of crystal clarity where you do your best work, feel proud, and make a difference for others using the gifts and talents you’ve worked hard to develop. And there are the misfortunes: moments of heartbreaking failure, horrific bosses, endless struggles to cultivate skills you feel you’ll never grasp, years trying to get someone to notice your passion. That’s all part of the journey toward finding and living our purpose.
I wish you much more of the former than the latter. But it’s all necessary. If you want to find meaning in life and work, you have to work to discover it. And sometimes that will take you down a difficult path.
Tip
If you’re struggling to find your purpose, reach out to a friend or colleague who you trust who seems to have found theirs. If you can arrange a conversation with them, you may find it illuminating. Most likely, they’ll also help remind you that the process is ongoing and full of detours—aka, not to be so hard on yourself.
3. Know Your Story, Know Your Purpose
Cultivating authentic purpose requires that you look at your story accurately—the painful parts and the beautiful parts.
An exercise I like to call Origin Stories can help us see things clearly. The process involves examining ourselves from different angles to find the good, the bad, and the ugly. With that information in hand, we will be far better equipped to discover what gives us purpose in life and how we can harness it in our everyday lives, at work and at home.
Take the time to write out each story, including vivid details so you can detect important patterns.
Origin story 1: My views of myself. During your formative years, what messages did you receive about your significance in the world? About your potential? About your abilities? What messages did you hear about your limitations? Pick one or two scenes that come to mind and write them out.
Origin story 2: Me at my best. We all have record-setting performances. When was yours? What do you look back on as your greatest accomplishment? When you felt most proud of your talents and the impact they had? Pick one or two scenes that come to mind and write those out.
Origin story 3: Me at my worst. We all have that period of “why do I keep doing that?” behavior—the thing we do or say at the most inopportune time that reveals our worst. Well, there’s an answer to the question of “why” you do it: You learned it.
Most unwanted behavior originates in formative moments of pain. Think about when you “learned” the behavior in question. Pick one or two scenes and write them out.
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Origin story 4: What I hold sacred. At our core, we all have deeply held values or principles that guide our lives and decisions—compassion, integrity, service, ambition, getting results, earning money, being productive, etc. Think about the sacrosanct values you most hold dear and write out the stories of how they came to be so important.
Are those values serving you well today? Do some of them need to be reconsidered? Under what conditions are you tempted to compromise any of them? Where do they feel aligned with your organization’s values and where do they feel misaligned?
Look across all the stories you’ve written. What patterns do you see? What recurring themes stand out? When are you most fulfilled? Least fulfilled? Find a trusted friend or family member and read the stories out loud to them and ask them to tell you what they hear.
This kind of candid self-reflection can be clarifying, so in my experience it’s worth doing every year, or even more frequently. While of course it’s never too late to make a change, the earlier you get started, the better off you’ll be.
4. Well-Defined Purpose = Stronger Boundaries
It’s not surprising that people who are unsure of their purpose often feel overwhelmed. So one underrated but huge benefit of having a strong sense of purpose is that it narrows your scope of action, providing much-needed focus. In a busy, chaotic world of seemingly infinite choice, putting (the right) limitations on yourself can be a huge productivity hack—and provide a big mental health benefit.
It frees you up to focus on doing a few things amazingly well, as opposed to doing a lot of things okay or worse. Your purpose defines your highest priorities, whether in life or at work. Everything else comes after.
Without this kind of clarity, setting goals can quickly become an exercise in frustration. Anytime a new opportunity pops up, you’ll be tempted to jump on it in the vain hope it’ll lead to success, whatever it looks like. But when your purpose and goals are much more narrowly defined, it’s easy to say no, to stay on the right path.
Purpose is a paradox in so many ways. It’s both massively important but too often cheapened. It can be incredibly challenging to figure out but completely simple in form. And it can be the source of deep pride or, in its absence, deep angst.
So if you haven’t taken the time to find your purpose yet, why not get started? Your seeking system—and your heart—will thank you.
Unlock the Power of Purpose-Driven Leadership with Navalent
Navigating the complexities of leadership requires more than just skill—it demands purpose. At Navalent, we believe in the transformative power of leading with intention and clarity.
Our knowledgeable consultants, enriched with real-world executive experience, are dedicated to guiding you on a journey of purposeful leadership. Dive deep into strategic change, harness your unique strengths, and lead with unwavering purpose.
Ready to redefine your leadership journey and inspire change?Connect with us today.