Make Meaning & Purpose a Cultural Priority: Because Disconnection Leads to Devastation

"There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. The essence of these needs is captured in the phrase 'to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy. The need to leave a legacy is our spiritual need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, personal congruence, and contribution."??- Stephen Covey, Management Guru

Shared meaning, purpose, love, and learning are essential to our well-being. Yet our current political landscape reveals a radical disconnection?marked by distrust, fear, and animosity.

This place of isolation is a dangerous place to be. As Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar and ecumenical teacher, reflects: Disconnection leads to devastation.

In contrast, connection nurtures meaning, purpose, and potential, each being a top priority required of leadership to foster thriving workplace cultures. Now, more than ever, our workplace can and must serve as a vital space to live, love, learn, and leave a legacy together.

Culture by Design or Culture By Default??

So how’s your culture? As the leader or director, you are the cultural architect. You either lead your culture by design or allow others to fill the void by default.

Healthy cultures protect against Uniformity, which can lead to groupthink and result in silent dissent or unanimous agreement in environments prioritizing conformity over diversity.?

In contrast, healthy cultures promote Unity, encouraging teamthink, diversity, collaborative partnerships, and spirited debates that align with a shared purpose. ?

(Unity does not mean every person has an equal vote. It is not a consensus decision-making process; unity embraces diverse perspectives and inclusive decision-making to arrive at a broader and better outcome.)

Deeply Connected and Clearly Distinct

In a place of Unity, we are deeply connected and clearly distinct. Diversity united by love, continues Richard Rohr.

Yes, love. ?

Not passionate, romantic love but agape—companionate love grounded in warmth, affection, and connection. Agape is a commitment to one another's well-being, which Gallup reveals continues to suffer?at work, and the HRB article emphasizes that We Are Still Lonely at Work. ?

Agape heals our ruptures and creates an environment where people at every level can develop, grow, and flourish.

Together. ?

Love is the accelerator for meaning and purpose, as noted?in the Forbes article,?"Does Unconditional Love Have a Place at Work?"? ?

If you've fostered agape in your culture, you already know what it looks and feels like.

It’s the?consistent practice of little things, and "most importantly, it is the small moments between coworkers—a warm smile, a kind note, a sympathetic ear—day after day, month after month, that help create and maintain a strong culture of companionate love and the employee satisfaction, productivity, and client satisfaction that comes with it."

How We Transmute Despair into Creative Outcomes

Brene Brown recently described despair as a claustrophobic feeling. A?weighted sense of dread tinged with hopelessness. ?

Poet and author Maria Popova describes?our alternative: ?

"The transmutation of despair into love is what we call meaning. It is an active, searching process — a creative act. Paradoxically, we make meaning most readily, most urgently, in times of confusion and despair, when life as we know it has ceased to make sense and we must derive for ourselves not only what makes it livable but what makes it worth living." ?

Think Square Dance ?

How do we move forward together? Small, intentional gains and incremental wins.

For example, on election night, a town in Vermont held a potluck dinner and a square dance with a live band in the Town Hall (NPR). One participant reflected: ? "When square dancing, you're forced to dance with everybody in the room….. It's about knowing your neighbor and being with your neighbor regardless of how they voted, or who they voted for, and reminding each other that we can still dance together, and show up, and make a meal for each another, and move forward." ?

Forced to dance with everyone in the room…..to break bread, and move forward. ?

That’s our work-life, yes? Married before we date and united before we know one another.

Yet the realistic promise of a Culture by Design is, in the words of Timothy R Clark, psychological safety author,?a sanctuary of inclusion and an incubator of innovation where we align in a shared purpose to make meaningful contributions and leave our small legacy.

Shall we? ??