Purpose

In working "how to bring a mission to life" and "engaging employees", I was reminded of Dick Axelrod's work. Here is a useful article ...

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"Purpose is the Cornerstone - by Dick and Emily Axelrod

A hospital creating a healing environment for its patients; a mortgage bank enabling people to realize their dreams; an outdoor clothing manufacturer equipping people to work in the world. These organizations have purposes that engage and connect people. Their purposes speak to a higher meaning than the daily routine of meeting budgets and achieving production goals.

Purpose provides a way for everyone to see how they connect to the larger whole. When people understand how they fit, a new sense of engagement and connection is created, and you see great things happen:

• free flowing information and cooperation replace organizational silos
• there is urgency and energy to create a new future
• people grasp the issues and quickly recognize the opportunities in an ever-changing marketplace
• a critical mass of people have the ownership, commitment and will to bring about needed change.

Who wouldn't want to work in such a place?

Many organizations identify purpose by creating a business case for change-au very logical and "head- based." Leaders believe that logic will carry the day. While creating this case for change is a necessary first step, it does not create a purpose powerful enough to produce connection.

Purpose must also connect to the yearnings in people's hearts. If a hospital has to cut 30 million out of its budget, that may be the logical reason for change, but it lacks meaning. "Improving healthcare so we care for people in the way we envisioned when we entered the profession" has meaning."

Read the rest of the article ....

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