The power you find when leading others with a clear and undeniable purpose is undeniable. Creating organizational alignment, improving employee satisfaction and overall company performance happens when the people you lead feel connected to something meaningful and significant. As much as people may want to feel valued and appreciated for their efforts, when they know that their contributions are valuable, they experience a kind of personal satisfaction that informs their conscientiousness and elevates performance.<\/p>\n
One of the challenges leaders face is getting people to perform at a level that accomplishes the operational objectives and produces desired results they are working to achieve. How people perform is the make-or-break of any organization. Many companies get by employing the minimal level performance needed to get things done. But high-performance organizations thrive by inspiring high-performing contributors to achieve more than what other organizations believe is possible.<\/p>\n
Human potential is never realized solely on the level of knowledge, skill, or talent you bring to whatever you do. These competencies often go wasted without having a compelling reason to find your grit, the willingness to get comfortable being uncomfortable and stretch yourself to accomplish things that are difficult.
\nThe trick isn’t getting people in line; it’s getting them lined up behind cause and engaged in a relentless pursuit of accomplishing what matters.<\/p>\n
\nBeyond the essential competencies required of a person to do their job, two qualities define high performers: conscientiousness and grit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Conscientiousness literally means being guided by your conscience or your sense of what is inherently right or wrong. Conscientious people see that what they are accomplishing serves something greater than their own needs or interests. A sense of purpose drives them. They are responsible and diligent because the work has real meaning. Their performance becomes a matter of a duty to a worthy cause.<\/p>\n
It is this sense of duty that informs the grit we also see in high performers. Grit is the willingness and ability to get comfortable being uncomfortable, work harder, longer, and learn things you don’t know. You find your grit by moving outside of your comfort zone. Developing grit involves taking risks and learning what you need to know rather than relying on what you think you know.<\/p>\n
Conscientiousness and grit exist in people who care about the things that matter to your cause. It is what alignment is all about. You either must attract people who care about the things you care about or those who can learn to care. You cannot teach people to care. You can only show people what you care about and why, and perhaps they might become inspired to care about those things too.<\/p>\n
\nTo transform people into followers, leaders need a WIP, a Worthy Indelible Purpose.<\/h2>\n
Being worthy suggests that the purpose is significantly meaningful to those who might follow you. Worthiness exists only in the mind of the beholder. Great leaders are masterful at communicating what they aim to accomplish by demonstrating why it is necessary and seducing their followers by helping them imagine that what they can accomplish is possible \u2013 even if improbable. Exceptional leaders understand that you cannot capture the imagination of everyone \u2013 not do you want to. Your goal is to attract those most worthy of your cause.<\/p>\n
An indelible purpose is one that you cannot shake off. It clings to you and gets beneath your skin until it feels like it is a part of who you are.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The challenge as a leader is to make visible something that others cannot see and make it feel real and solid. You will otherwise be hard-pressed to find any worthy followers who would be willing to risk much of anything for something that might disappear from before their eyes.<\/p>\n
You use your WIP to attract the people you need with you and sort away those you do not. A worthy, indelible purpose defines the standards you operate by and the values you expect in others. It is not about aligning just any people; it is inspiring the right people to follow together.<\/p>\n
You may attract people without having a powerful purpose, but you will never elevate their performance to the level that will distinguish your organization. Some organizations design defense systems to withstand the impact of incompetence and dysfunction. They set the bar low enough to keep a stream of low-wage, warm bodies passing through a system that functions as a perpetual revolving door. You always get what you pay for when you are buying mediocrity.<\/p>\n
You always get what you pay for when you are buying mediocrity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But those who cultivate the performance of their people also elevate the performance of the entire organization. You will discover you get more than you pay for. People who are conscientious and purpose-driven are the ones who go above and beyond what others expect of them. Just look at the people who work in mission-driven non-profits whose wages are often substantially lower than their counterparts in for-profit and do exemplary work. Or the front-line workers who literally risked their lives daily during the COVID-19 pandemic because what they do isn’t just “essential work, it is deeply rewarding because they believe it is necessary \u2013 and that is what makes it possible for them to do what they do, day after day.<\/p>\n
You build a high-performance organization by “wipping” people into a frenzy. No amount of external motivation can ever match what drives people to discover when they connect to a worthwhile indelible purpose.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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