Most of us go to our graves with our music still inside us, unplayed. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

A higher purpose doesn’t have to be that complicated. A number of years ago I worked with a manufacturer. We’ll say they made widgets to keep it confidential. While working with the managers I asked what was their purpose. They said it was to make widgets. After I probed, cajoled and probably even nagged, no matter how I asked the question their answer remained the same. Our purpose is to make widgets. In my head I was thinking, sarcastically, wow, sign-me up!

This mindset of labor without a purpose was evident throughout the plant. Employees were there for a paycheck and nothing else. What I found frustrating was that it really didn’t have to be that way. Yes, they made widgets, but there was certainly opportunity to have a higher purpose given both what they made and the region where they were located. I feared that most of the employees there would be just as Oliver Wendell Holmes described, they would go to their graves with music still inside them, unplayed.

Infuse a Higher Purpose

A number of early management theorists (1968-1992) believed that the primary responsibility of the leader was to infuse purpose and meaning into the work lives of organization members. Unfortunately, in more recent history less emphasis has been placed on the leader’s role in clarifying and enhancing meaningfulness.

An organization needs to have a higher purpose; something that is more important than just making money, reaching a competitive goal, or yes, making widgets. A higher purpose is not about economic exchanges. It reflects something more aspirational. It explains how the people involved with an organization are making a difference, it gives them a sense of meaning. Unfortunately, one of the greatest barriers to embracing purpose is the cynical view that the organization’s relationship to employees is merely “transactional.” Employees provide labor and the organization cuts them a paycheck.

Kim Cameron, in Positive Leadership shares this example. “In a study of custodians who work in a hospital, researchers interviewed a staff member who was assigned to clean up vomit in the oncology ward when patients came in for chemotherapy. This staff member described her work as, ‘My job is equally important to the physician. I help these people feel human. At their lowest and most vulnerable point, I help them maintain their dignity. My role is crucial to the healing process.’” That’s a higher purpose!

More than a Mere Transaction

No organization and no role needs to be relegated to a mere transaction. Someone leading from the perspective of bold grace will both look for and provide opportunity to be part of a higher purpose.  

Lead with bold grace. Don’t let those under your leadership go to their graves with music still inside them, unplayed.