Beyond Happiness

How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact

To thrive in this?Adaptive Age of rapid change, build a culture that values people.

The global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted much of what society took for granted. Technology and social change have accelerated in unprecedented ways, leaving many struggling to cope and adapt. The pandemic compounded the stresses and divisions already pulling at the economic and social fabric.

“Even though it’s daunting to keep up with the unpredictable, exponential change around us…it just highlights that it’s never been more important to control what’s?within us –?our beliefs, purpose, values?and ability to adapt.”

In this environment, people and?organizations should focus on controlling and changing the circumstances they can affect, and accepting and adapting to the circumstances they can not.

In chaotic environments, organizations that thrive prioritize the well-being of their people and the stakeholders in their larger community. Treating people humanely –?as assets, not liabilities –?helps companies become more resilient. Hard times reveal the character of individuals and businesses.

Measure success by the double ROI?– earning strong?financial results while helping stakeholders lead?meaningful lives.

What you measure shapes your strategy. Organizations prosper in the Adaptive Age by measuring what serves everyone’s?interests – not only management and shareholders, but all?stakeholders, including your workers, the community and the planet.

Investing in your workforce’s well-being leads to greater profitability, higher quality employees, increased productivity and better stock performance. Workplace happiness and positive purpose?correlate?with corporate growth and profits.

“The…most sustainable form of happiness is purpose. It’s what grounds us and lights our North Star at the same time.”

Happiness means different things to different people and cultures, but?common threads include?feelings of pleasure, of?passionate engagement in work or play, and of contributing to a larger, meaningful purpose.?Individuals and companies can act in ways that improve their happiness and?the well-being?of society.

The greenhouse model?aligns action with purpose?to achieve authenticity, wholeness and resilience.

The greenhouse model uses a matrix on which?one axis shows who should?act – one person, a group of people or society, expressed as?“ME, WE and COMMUNITY” – and?the other axis shows which?values and behaviors people should manifest, under what conditions and toward what higher purpose. When people or firms?work in alignment with?community support and accountability, they magnify the positive effects of their actions.

“The difference between companies that prioritize people effectively and those that don’t is how much leaders are committed to rooting their purpose in?accountable?values and behaviors.”

Having an agreed-upon mission statement isn’t sufficient. Individual, corporate and communal behavior and systems must align with and uphold?stated values. Then, everyone can trust that people and their companies are making?choices?not only for personal success or corporate profit, but also to serve a mutual?higher purpose.

In an organization’s shared ecosystem, “greenhouse conditions” nurture purpose and values. This leads?to self-organization, distributed leadership, adaptive strategies and creativity. Everyone’s individual resilience contributes to the organization’s resilience. Employees’?willingness to be adaptable and their desire to learn and grow helps build?your firm, as an engaged, productive, happy workforce?learns from both failure and success.

Organizational culture is the backbone of employees’ happiness and their?contribution to group goals and the greater good.

Three greenhouse conditions – control, progress and connectedness– foster your employees’ alignment with meaningful values, productive behavior and genuine purpose.?People are empowered to do their best work when they?have autonomy and agency, and?they feel trusted.?An environment that presents achievable goals and celebrates accomplishment?is less stressful and fosters productivity and engagement. When people meaningfully connect on a personal level, they support one another and hold each other accountable.

At the organizational level, people need to see how their individual purpose – “What’s in it for me?” – aligns with the higher purpose – “What’s in it for all?” Adaptive organizations create a culture that welcomes every participant, fosters mutual trust and celebrates differences –?not conformity.

“We shouldn’t assume we know how to help people without directly involving them, listening to their actual needs?and letting them take the lead.”

Accountability means people take – and share –?responsibility for outcomes. It ensures that?everyone will follow through on commitments. In an accountable company, people acknowledge their mistakes and everyone learns from them. The company recognizes and rewards good work. The organization demonstrates long-term commitment to values, behavior and higher purpose and never compromises on these for short-term financial gain.

The quest for happiness, meaning and purpose starts with the individual.

Many people find that their work doesn’t help them live their values and purpose in ways that lead to happiness and meaning. Burnout, stress, economic hardship?and mental health struggles are?on the rise, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the same time, your employees’ well-being hinges on being able to bring their whole, authentic selves into the workplace.?To achieve self-actualization and discover a higher purpose, take the “hero’s journey,” that is, dive into the?discovery of a higher purpose, into your values and priorities. Try an exercise called “Happiness Heartbeats,”?which asks you to recall significant personal high and low points. Determine the underlying values present in the highest moments or distressingly absent in the lowest.

“Wholeness at work is about embracing people’s entire lives, not just the time they spend when they’re on the clock…The more people feel safe not hiding who they are by putting on a ‘work mask,’?the more they can feel like they belong.”

When you identify the values that lift your sense of well-being, prioritize them in decision-making. Write a purpose statement that identifies what inspires you to action, highlights your talents and abilities, and describes the positive impact your combined enthusiasm and gifts make in the world.?Seek a work environment that supports and accepts every aspect of your life –?your mental, physical, emotional and financial well-being. That environment is good for you, and it’s good for your employer’s business too.

In the “We” of the greenhouse model, adaptive organizations create alignment, belonging, accountability and commitment.

Organizational policies that outline?values and the behaviors that support them keep everyone leaning toward a shared purpose.?Continually review and modify this social contract?as your participants and environment change. Executive leadership, in particular, must strongly align with the organization’s values and purpose and stay visibly accountable for living up to those values.

People with a sense of belonging perform significantly better than those without.?Cultivate a culture of belonging by providing people with opportunities to learn and interact, so everyone feels their colleagues and managers see, hear and value them for their authentic selves.?Making a deliberate choice?to build a diverse, equitable, inclusive workplace community improves everyone’s performance.

“Connection is how we will survive and thrive as a species on this planet. This is how we will live the future of work right now. This is how we’ll wake up every day feeling recognized, respected and celebrated enough to help restore a society that at times can feel broken.”

Accountability has to permeate every aspect of an adaptive organization’s activity. Take steps to build a culture in which people feel they can rely on each other to take responsibility and in which people keep their promises, espouse fairness, recognize desired behaviors and reward each other for them.?

Alignment, belonging and accountability work together to create and support individual and collective commitment, an essential greenhouse condition for adaptive organizations. Top-down hierarchies are too rigid and too slow to change to meet the dynamic challenges of the Adaptive Age. When everyone in the workplace commits to shared, long-term values and purpose, they can self-manage and self-organize to meet new challenges.

Community includes every person and entity your firm deals with:?customers, suppliers?and more.

The challenge in the Adaptive Age is to expand the idea of community beyond your neighbors and those who think, look and act like you to include everyone with whom you have a relationship, be it interpersonal or transactional.

A triple win?benefits the individual, the organization and members of your community. It means choosing to do business with people and companies who connect with your values and purpose. This enlarged understanding of community underpins the shift adaptive companies must make from maximizing short-term shareholder value to promoting long-term stakeholder value, while regarding stakeholders as everyone in the community.

“Purpose…naturally instills the resilience to adapt and solve problems we’ve never encountered and the motivation to be productive even in the most challenging of times.”

Stakeholder capitalism seeks to make participation a positive-sum game in which everyone can take pride. It can include?fair wages, flat pay scales, workplace safety, superior customer service, good corporate citizenship and large-scale charitable?projects.?People feel more positive about their work when they see their company taking?action according to its values. Adding authentic, personal and meaningful human value into every interaction builds loyalty and creates a virtuous cycle with a ripple effect.

Organizations can expand their understanding of community and re-imagine their role in society.

Wholeness, connection and belonging matter not only on the individual (Me), company (We), and Community level, but also on a societal and even a planetary level. Everyone, at every level, has a role to play.

One useful exercise, “Six Degrees of Impact,” helps you envision your organization’s hero journey. To create a?storyboard tracking your company’s transition from its current state to fulfilling its highest purpose, start with six sheets of blank paper. On?the first, describe your company’s current state. On the sixth, describe where your organization aspires?to be?as your workforce?lives its shared purpose and values. Use the?four intermediary storyboards to?describe the transitional steps from where you are now to where you want to be.

“The way to keep moving toward a brighter, more equitable light is to invite people —?all people — to bring their whole selves into the room. That’s when we go beyond just speaking our voices; that’s when we become a part of change that will endure.”

At each stage, determine whom you need to involve to make it happen and what roles you and your colleagues will play. Identify how every action and milestone manifests?your purpose and values. What do you need to do tomorrow to get this transformation underway?

By thinking big, you mobilize the creativity and?relationships your organization needs?to make a meaningful impact. When people and organizations foster and embody their values and purpose, they empower everyone in their orbit to?make a meaningful impact as well.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) are good for business and essential for a just society.

Workplace diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB)?mean?that all employees bring their full selves to the job and find acceptance, respect and fair access to opportunity.

“Diversity is being asked to the dance. Inclusion is being asked to the dance. Belonging is being able to dance how you want. Equity is having a turn to pick the DJ.”

Companies need to approach DEIB with humility and willingness to learn. Don’t assume you already know what equity, inclusion and belonging mean?in the lives of the diverse people in your organization.

An organization’s culture doesn’t change on a dime. It takes more than a workshop, an inspiring speech or a big conference to build DEIB into a company’s bones. Leaders must commit to a long-haul process and their commitment must permeate the workplace. Everyone must practice the values the organization preaches. Monitor quantitative and qualitative data?to make sure your organization achieves?meaningful results. Systemic change may look like policy, but it is embodied by?your people’s everyday behavior.

Working in an organization committed to employee purpose and values makes life in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) time more manageable. When people know their labor is?contributing?to the realization of their values, they gain a greater?sense of reassurance and peace.

Bentley Moore Executive

We hope that you found this article both insightful and of use.

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About the Author

Jenn Lim?is co-founder and CEO?of Delivering Happiness (DH), a?business consultancy.