Organizational Purpose vs. Employee Purpose

One must first become "integrated with oneself."Only then will you become effective leaders!

The organizational purpose is the most crucial element in determining the fate of any organization! The difference between thriving and struggling organizations is their understanding of what their true purpose is and what it can do. What is your organization's purpose? Is it in alignment with employees’ purpose? You would be surprised at the number of individuals within organizations that have no idea what the organization's purpose is.

Communication: There are so many fundamental activities like clear communication that are the cause of demise for organizations. It is this breakdown of organizational communication and lack of focus that contributes to deterioration in employee engagement. That said, people showing up for work "just for the paycheck" is the result of choices leadership made and management followed through with. Furthermore, you can ask just about anyone in an organization with bad communication and everyone says the same thing "there is no communication" but, no one ever does anything about it. The true effectiveness and change begins and originates from the Geyser within. That is all the (1) Leadership, (2) Ideas, (3) Solutions, plus (4) Technology that will ever be materialized.  They are all embedded within. Even like rare Gemstone (DIAMONDS) carefully excavated from a Coal Mine.

Insight: Look at our life outside of work, what is our purpose in life? We tend to see our life compartmentalized into boxes, however, the roles that we have in life are all connected. We only choose to believe that we have separate components/roles in our life. Personally, we should seek to create an environment around people who will be asking leaders the following question; "What can I give"? not " What is in it for me"? Development of your people needs to consider tools of competence and growing communities of success; which in turn creates jobs and develop careers.  "By the time we figure life out, it is over"- Such insight carries a lot of weight in the business world also in that many organizations figure out their errors only after it is too late.  

Perception: The organizational purpose and personal purpose ties in with the leadership. development and who we are as people and as leaders. The intensity of one’s association and engagement (involvement and commitment) in an organization depends on his/her perception of the purpose of that organization. If you perceive it as a selfish purpose (to be a profitable entity), you will treat your association as a job (for a paycheck) and your engagement will be minimal. You will not hesitate to leave whenever the paycheck is reduced or stopped. If you perceive it as RIGHT PURPOSE (to improve the welfare of all in the organization), you will treat the association as A CAREER (conducive to excellence and advancement) and your engagement will be moderately high. However, if you perceive it as a worthwhile purpose (Good for all), you will treat the association as A CALLING (opportunity to serve others) and will be passionately engaged. 

Engagement: It is good to see more awareness is happening about defining the purpose and engagement. Without purpose, engagement is not possible. Unfortunately, when organizations define the purpose (mission, vision, etc too) because it is a fad, it loses the core reason for it. As the reason for it not being effective is due to not being lived at all. The first thing to make it happen is to take away the fear in the organizations so that people feel free to share what is missing while relating it to the purpose and the concerned manager acknowledges it and takes some action to address it. Then the ball can be set to roll and make an impact.

Alignment: There continue to be gaps in organizations and people not knowing what their purpose is, and/or not acting in alignment with their purpose. If the people and the organizational direction differ or the people do not understand or agree with the direction, there is no synergy and no one succeeds. To align purpose and direction, perhaps the first place to start is the organizational leaders lead by example (act in line with the company purpose, agreeing on the purpose and direction); then educate and engage the people. If the parties do not align, it’s time to agree to disagree, part ways and both find success.

In closing, the central idea is that one must first become "integrated with oneself". Only then will you become effective leaders. Only then will you transform into Change AGENTS, literally at all levels of society-Locally, Regionally, Nationally, and perhaps even Globally