#006 – Parsing Purpose – A Leader’s Superpower

In previous posts we have discussed that chaos is overcome with 1) clear purpose 2) great processes for achieving purpose and 3) people skills for working together. Let’s drill down on the purpose competency. 

ORDERS OF PURPOSE

We talk about purpose in vague terms which is part of our problem in mastering it. There is not one purpose for an organization or a person. There are multiple orders or levels of purpose. My wife got a call yesterday that a friend has cancer and needs some help. When I asked what she is doing today, she tells me she has several meetings for her work and “has to go to the grocery”. I walk away thinking that is one of her purposes for the day to get groceries. It is true. But the grocery run is a second order purpose to her 1st order purpose of helping her friend by fixing a meal. You could argue that there is even a higher-level purpose when you explore why you want to help a friend. 

BUILDING ONENESS

Effective leaders learn to draw out and understand the network of purposes that are affecting their team’s purpose. The simple example above shows that most of our purposes are part of a bigger purpose. So, team unity requires understanding individual purposes (career goals, family goals) and requires understanding company purposes, department purposes and the purposes of individuals in the department.   

The best leaders will become students of purpose and their relationships and constantly monitor the fit. I say constantly because, all the sudden the organization may have a crisis that requires adjustment, or a team member may have a family member in crisis. All of these things affect our collective ability to maintain order in a very chaotic world. There is a spectrum of responses by leaders to the changing purposes of others– on one extreme, isolation– “that’s your problem take care of it”. On the other extreme taking ownership of issues that they shouldn’t. The middle ground is intelligent awareness which requires caring about people enough to know what is going on in their lives and the wisdom to know how to adjust or help. 

PRINCIPLE

Chemists studies the principles that hold matter together. Leaders study how to how teams together. The bible refers to this as building ‘oneness’ and it is the only way humanity can fulfill its potential. Understanding the 1st and 2nd and other orders purposes in our lives is the key to conquering chaos. This is why leading yourself and others is the most important work there is.