Purpose is not mission or vision statements.  It’s certainly not anything like the bafflegab most organizations put on those pretty plaques on the walls that state their mission or vision.  “We strive to be a world-class provider of excellence in products, service and customer service for and an employer of choice for the best talent in the world.”  That’s about as motivating as day-old pizza.  Purpose is simple, plain English, and focused on how you serve and make a difference in the world.

Far too often when we initiate organizational change, we obsess with what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and who’s doing it.  Org charts and job descriptions abound and we build structure after structure, like one band-aid over another to solve problems that our past fixes created.

How often do you step back to ask why you are doing the work you’re doing?  What’s the difference that you’re making in the world?  What is it you’re striving to become?  Without that context you can often simply be moving deck chairs on the Titanic.

Clarity of purpose gives a focus and direction for all of your work.  It also allows your people to connect at a fundamental, emotional level to what they’re doing.  Human beings are driven by emotion, and to tap the full potential of your people, you have to engage them at an emotional level.  You can micro-manage and whip them to excellence.  They have to want to excel, and to do that, you have to give them a reason to do so – especially the younger generations who are driving our workplaces today.

Kodak went through tumultuous change over the past few decades.  Most of what made their company thrive barely exists today.  But they still live their core purpose – they make memories.  No longer is it on film and with chemicals.  But they still make memories.

What’s the core purpose of your organization? Of your department? Of your team?

Maybe you don’t have the answers.  That’s good to admit that.  It’s an amazing journey to start to discover this.

And here’s a radical thought if you don’t have an answer – what if you engaged your people in helping craft it?

Remember – the purpose

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The foundation for this work comes from the systems approach I’ve developed based on a systems perspective from my friend and colleague, Michael Basch, one of the founding partners of FedEx and the creator of most of the systems that built their reputation for excellent service in their first decade.  What I love about Mike’s frameworks is that they’re amazingly simple to grasp and yet so incredibly powerful.  I’ve modified Mike’s original framework with elements from the Chaordic Design approach developed by Dee Hock, founder of Visa.

At the heart of this approach is the core purpose of the organization and the principles by which it lives that purpose.  These feed into the goals that are set for each individual, the relevance of each goal and the feedback systems to show the progress.

What most managers do is focus on the actions that people take – either micro-managing them or jumping in to do it themselves when people don’t do what they commit to.  That creates far more work for the manager and dis-engages everyone else. And that’s what sets managers apart from leaders.

In the next few articles I’ll explain how leaders focus on all the other elements of this systems framework and allow their people to take the actions they need to get the job done.

The leader’s job is not to do the work, but rather to ensure it gets done.

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While this is a group of volunteer leaders, I think that advice is just as applicable in the ‘real’ world.

This is largeley an association of solopreneurs, and when someone on a volunteer board doesn’t do something, it’s often ‘easier’ for the president to jump in and do it himself or herself than to get the other person to fulfill their commitment – and I’ve seen this happen in the workplace time and time again.

Unfortunately, the problem with this is that you disengage your people, and teach them that they don’t have to fulfill their commitments.  And you wind up taking on more and more work, burning yourself out.  Not a good plan for the long term.

Whenever I take on a leadership role, my objective is to do nothing.  My job is to engage and tap the passion of my people to create a plan of action and create a space where they can make a commitment.  Then my job is to support, coach, needle, cajole, push, bribe, whack up-side the head and do whatever it takes to help them fulfill that commitment.

Is that more work?  Yes, up front.  But in the end they grow, they accomplish and they own the result.  They do it all.  I do nothing but focus, align and support.

The leader’s job is not to do, but rather to ensure that it is done.

There are foundational steps to get to that point, and I’ll touch on those in the next blog postings.

What do you think?

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L180-100504-Transforming a City from Ravi Tangri on Vimeo.

L180-100420-The Evolution of Leadership from Ravi Tangri on Vimeo.

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Traditional engagement methods fall short, but there is a process that allows every voice to be heard and that enables groups of tens, hundreds or even thousands of people to swiftly tap their collective wisdom and collective find a way forward. This process is the World Cafe.

L180-100406-What is the World Cafe? from Ravi Tangri on Vimeo.

Far too often, the leader is seen as someone who is ‘above’ and apart from his or her followers.  Respect is expected because of his/her position and respect given is often little more than lip service.  Now, think of your own experiences.  If someone doesn’t show respect to you, what is your natural response?  Is it to fawn over them with adulation and respect for them?  Not often.

In today’s world, where one leader cannot have all the information needed – and thus needs to engage all the other players in co-creating the way forward – respect is a fundamental requirement for leaders.  If you are going to engage others, you have to start from a place of respect, not command.

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While delivering a leadership program at the Ritz Carlton in Doha I had the opportunity to interview Avinash Menon, the Director of Human Resources to dive deeper into how their leadership shapes their service culture.

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