Purpose Matters Most

Purpose is an inner will, available to all, that raises us above our everyday worries and concerns, so we can access our own greatness. President John F. Kennedy was touring NASA in the early 1960s, he asked a janitor who was mopping the floor what he did at NASA? The man replied, 'I am helping to put a man on the moon.'. The janitor's answer was an example of how purpose matters most as it aligns an individual with the organizational deepest sense of purpose.

Let's take a closer look at this story. On May 25, 1961, in a speech to the American Congress, Kennedy set a clear vision to land a man on the moon and to safely return him to the earth by the end of the decade. This audacious challenge was made at a point when the total time spent in space by an American was only 15 minutes. His challenge to a nation was more than a goal, it resonated with Kennedy’s optimism, service to his country and a belief in a nation. President Kennedy, amid the Cold War, raised the country to not merely to live by the national, cold war fears but to dream large- to awaken a united purpose. A purposeful leader sets a courageous course that mobilizes everyone to live from a higher part of themselves, and the janitor's answer captures the essence of that organizational purpose – a unified spirit of possibility, not from a place of fear, but a place of creative and innovative potential.

A great leader awakens in others their sense of purpose for the benefit of the individual and the organization. Beyond a person’s role or task, an individual’s purpose awakens a sense of who we are at this moment. Kennedy saw beyond a nation’s limited experience in space and imagined what was possible, if all people, not just the highest leadership saw their role as helping to put a man on the moon. Kennedy, the leader, could awaken this sense of purposefulness in a nation.

Purpose is not merely a meaningful goal. Going to the moon by the end of the decade was a significant national goal. For an organization, a five-year plan for expansion into a new industry is a meaningful goal for the company. Meaning is something we assign to life, a goal or concrete aspiration we want to attain. Purpose is something that life assigns to us, we have experienced it resonating within us since we were young and it continues throughout our journey. The awakening of purpose is a higher level of consciousness that we tap into within ourselves. The critical lesson is that that a higher-level consciousness allows us to tap into our emotional intelligence, critical thinking with greater ease.

At an organizational level, the challenge of great leaders is to awaken this higher level consciousness through their presence and vision so that each individual can access a higher level of brain function to innovate and create. So purpose matters most because it is not a list of values or behaviors your organization should live by, often referred to as a mission statement. Purposeful living is a brain-based way of functioning, where a higher level of being is awakened in a person so we can all play for something greater than ourselves.

Purpose matters most because it moves us out of a fixed, fear-based mindset and awakens a more elevated view of ourselves. Now every member of an organization becomes a leader in their own right- "I am helping to put a man on the moon'.

In 2014, the newly promoted CEO of Microsoft began a purposeful implementation plan within the organization. He did much more than set a five-year strategy- he envisioned a new culture for Microsoft. Listen to his speech, and you will hear the battle cry of a purposeful organization. What can we 'do that is unique' with a 'continual renewal.' He is not merely speaking abstractly, but he expresses a need to show 'courage in the face of opportunity.' To make great things happen, you need to not only act but to dream. Purpose activates within each individual their ability to dream and then to courageously take action. Beyond words, allow yourself to feel what happens inside you as you listen to his words. Allow his message to wash over you- see what it awakens with you as an individual. Allow yourself to welcome the personal energy and possibility that is awakened that is a taste of living on purpose.

You can watch his purposeful words here: https://news.microsoft.com/hitrefresh/

Purpose organizes organizations and individuals. It helps us to make choices. In our workday, purpose is never satisfied with only meaningful tasks. A purposeful organization awakens each member's sense of unique purpose, which is brain-based and primal. It is more like hunger, which annoys us to eat every day for our physical survival just as life purpose pesters us to express it.

Purpose eases stress, burnout, and disengagement and aligns individuals at a brain level to the organizational purpose. As fear reduces, personal possibility expands. The human capital of an organization is raised, not by a great hire, but by raising each individual higher.