The Importance of Leadership and the Smallest Details in Defining and Discovering Purpose.

Something is inspiring and motivating about waking up each morning and knowing that you have a purpose. You know that when you start your day, you strive to do something bigger than yourself. Whether that is making sure your child is growing and developing into a good citizen, your employees are growing and developing the talents, skills, and strengths, or you are growing and developing your talents, skills, and strengths. Each day, when you have a purpose, life is not about routines, but instead, stepping out of your comfort zone to challenge the status quo to do something meaningful. People want personal and professional meaning, and many will spend their entire lives in search without finding it. According to Gallup, people need a purpose and meaning in their role at work. They want to be known for their talents, skills, and strengths. Leaders have a responsibility to create a culture that is purpose-driven and committed to helping employees to maximize and develop their talents, skills, and strengths that are aligned with the purpose of the organization. 

To help employees find their purpose, an organization must first have a clear mission. According to Gallup, only 27% of employees strongly believe in their company’s values. Keep in mind that only 16% of employees are engaged in the workplace - globally. Purpose and employee engagement are interconnected and will either positively or negatively impact organizational performance. A company’s purpose is more than words on paper or walls. A meaningful organizational purpose inspires both leaders and employees to commit to their roles each day. Furthermore, purpose requires action by leaders. Leaders must do more than communicate a purpose; they must be willing to put words into action.

Leaders must make the purpose of the organization practical, possible, and as authentic as possible for employees. Employees will commit to a purpose that they understand, value, and that is real to them. Employees overwhelmingly indicate repeatedly that they want meaning in their roles. No matter the job in an organization, employees with no clearly defined meaning or connection to purpose increasingly become disengaged. Organizations that enjoy prominent levels of employee engagement have spent the time developing and communicating clear, concise, and meaningful purpose. In high-performing organizations, leaders and employees work collaboratively to ensure a meaningful purpose exists. Just as important, employees discover their role in the organization’s purpose-driven journey, aligned to their talents, skills, and strengths. Along the journey, employees also grow and develop, which makes the purpose even more meaningful. 

Today, purpose-driven organizations are increasingly scarce, though the abundance of research, books, and training about the positive impact on employee engagement and performance that purpose has. The instability of the economy and access to talent (employees) are making organizations seem rudderless in a sea of doubt. No matter the storm, purpose-driven leaders and organizations remain steadfast in their pursuit of something bigger! Though purpose-driven leaders and organizations face obstacles and setbacks along the way, they remain focused and committed to the purpose. Like a beacon of light guiding a ship safely into port during a hurricane, purpose anchors leaders and employees in their path to improved organizational performance and authentic success. No matter the level of uncertainty during a storm, purpose (the beacon for organizations), guide leaders and employees in meaningful work.

A purpose is something worth aspiring to. The organization's purpose is never a destination, yet always a journey. The purpose must never be elusive or impossible but will never be discovered by remaining still and committed to the status quo. Purpose-driven employees need opportunities to grow and develop their talents, skills, and strengths through new opportunities. As mentioned in previous messages, too often, employees become disengaged in organizations due to rigid constructs that prevent them from utilizing their talents, skills, and strengths, in a purpose-driven role. Leaders must work with employees to make time that allows for them to use their talents, skills, and strengths, try something new that could become a building block to a purpose-driven role within the organization, which is often not the case in organizations. Most leaders stress the importance of job descriptions without understanding the importance of talents, skills, and strengths that employees bring to their roles and the possibilities for the organization. 

What we have learned together is that purpose is never meaningless or materialistic. Apple’s purpose is not to be a trillion-dollar organization, but instead to create products that enrich people’s daily lives. Apple’s ability to have record levels of revenue that happens each financial quarter is dependent on its leaders' and employees' commitment to making great products. Apple's ability to be purpose-driven validates that when employees have meaning, are empowered, and are engaged; the result is positive organizational performance. 

Leaders at Apple make tough decisions to remain committed to their purpose. Imagine the forces that confront leaders at Apple each day. The internal and external forces that may push for scaled-down and cheaper phones, newer technologies that are easier to manufacture, or the desire to increase revenue are great. Think about if Apple leaders accepted every idea or suggestion - would the quality of Apple's product be compromised? Sure, Apple’s profits may increase in the short-term, but leaders are not willing to jeopardize their employee’s commitment to the organizational purpose. Leaders at Apple must weigh long-term and short-term impacts against the organizational purpose. Saying yes is easy. Saying no is much more difficult but shows a powerful commitment to the organizational purpose. Another key hallmark of Apple is that leaders are held accountable for the user experience and less about numerical targets, this is unlike most companies. 

Why? User experience is purposeful. Everything Apple creates, manufactures, and distributes is purposeful. The importance of the smallest details Apple is willing to go after to separate themselves from the competition and remain committed to their purpose is a model for other organizations. Details matter in a purpose-driven organization. Apple spends extensively on creating a memorable and unique experience when a customer opens a new iPhone, Macbook, or Ipad. Apple employs artists with a sole focus on designing an experience for the user before they hold the iPhone or turn on a new Macbook for the first time. Apple’s belief and purpose of enriching people's lives begins from the moment they open the box. The sensory-customer experience is clean, simple, clutter-free, more importantly, memorable. The smallest details strengthen the commitment to the organizational purpose. 

Apple’s leaders and employees focus on the smallest details that make a significant difference in commitment, engagement, and performance. According to Personalics (2016), to ensure that opening a box is a unique experience, Apple employs a designer whose sole job is the packaging. The company also has a designer who is devoted to opening hundreds of prototype boxes. The designer creates and tests endless versions of box shapes, angles, and tapes. Designing a perfect box is not just about aesthetics, but also about a package that is easy for customers to open, easy for them to identify the components parts, and easy for them to start using. The process focuses on creating an experience for the customer. Furthermore, this shows that when leaders recruit and grow employees and empower them to utilize their talents, the positives for organizational culture and performance are unlimited. 

Organizational purpose requires a clear understanding of the why and helping each employee understand and discover his why. Leaders must not be only drivers of change, but also purpose coaches and drivers of the organizational purpose. Furthermore, leaders must work to empower employees to be purpose-driven. Purpose-driven leaders are effective in describing and communicating the organization's purpose. Authentically, purpose-driven leaders communicate success in terms that mean something to employees. At Apple, leaders help employees to see their role on a personal and professional level. The designer who designs the packaging for an iPhone understands his role and will spend days, weeks, and even months behind closed doors, with a clear focus to fabricate a box that creates the ultimate experience for the customer who purchases a technology that enriches their life. Though many may only see a box the designer sees their purpose. The designer shows up to work to create not merely a box for an iPhone or Macbook. Instead, the designer is creating an experience for customers. Once a box has been selected, the stress, tireless commitment the designer has put forth allows for authentic success to be experienced. 

How can educational leaders work with teachers and staff to create a purpose-driven culture? Leaders must first be clear that organizational purpose is not organizational performance. Purpose is aspirational. Research shows that an overwhelming majority of employees are not inspired or motivated by organizational performance. Employees are, however, inspired, and motivated when they are empowered to utilize and maximize their talents, skills, and strengths. Employees need more than just an opportunity. They need opportunity and empowerment if leaders expect to create a purpose-driven journey! Furthermore, clear expectations and purpose always lead to higher levels of employee empowerment and engagement. 

In terms of aspirational goals, leaders must define purpose in terms that are meaningful to employees. Just as leaders at Apple communicate purpose in terms of creating products that will change peoples’ lives, educational leaders must do the same. Encouraging teachers and staff members to help all students to read, become work-ready, or to become productive and engaged citizens are aspirational. Communicating purpose in terms of state test scores will not go a long way in inspiring teachers and staff to engage or to maximize their talents, skills, or strengths. Communicating a purpose in connection with a test score will lead to disengagement. At no time, through the recruitment or onboarding or day-to-day operations, do leaders at Apple frame purpose in terms of revenue amounts - which is why they can recruit, grow, develop, and retain top talent in the industry. The question becomes, is the ongoing teacher shortage a result of not having a clear and meaningful purpose?  

Next, leaders must be purpose-driven each day and throughout the decision-making process. Stephen Covey says, “It's easy to say no when there’s a deeper yes!” Purpose-driven leaders are willing to risk saying no if the idea does not positively impact the organization’s purpose. Within Apple, there is a clear, communicated, and strategic purpose that guides everyone's work each day. Very few “yes” answers are given, as there are very few questions asked. Everyone knows the playbook, innately understands their role(s) and knows the expectations. They know not to steer the rutters away from the purpose but drive a path forward - no matter the obstacle or hurdle. In education, there are too many bells, whistles, and constructs that consume much of the focus. Yet students should be our primary purpose - but high-stakes testing, rigid academic paths, and preconceived expectations stand in the way of fulfilling our purpose-driven mission in education. Like Apple did in the mid to late 1990s, education should remove things that cloud our path or invite detours away from our purpose. 

Lastly, leaders must ensure that the organizational purpose is recognizable internally and externally. Apple is one of the most identifiable companies in the world by consumers. Why? Simplicity and the human connection to the brand. Apple's purpose is to make products to change people’s lives, when surveyed consumers, not by mistake, indicate how an iPhone, Macbook, or iPad has changed the way they live and work. Externally, people recognize Apple for its ability to make a connection with their customers. Not surprisingly, employees and the customer share a purposeful bond. Employees at Apple work with a clear sense of purpose as if they know each one of their customer's personal and professional needs. 

Leaders have a responsibility to communicate the need for a purpose-driven organization. This is not to say that leaders create a purpose in a silo without input from employees. Purpose demands a shared sense of connection between both leaders and employees, which only can be achieved when leaders and employees collaboratively work together. Creating a purpose is never easy. Only the organizations whose leaders and employees are willing to work collaboratively together will ever enjoy a purpose-driven organization. President Kennedy says it best, “Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” Leaders must remember, in the end, people, employees will never engage with a sense of purpose that is meaningless or that fails to empower them to utilize their talents, skills, or strengths.