Posts
Mike
Schwarzer, TLP 1 Insight Reflections, 24 May 2016
In my reflection last week I opened the
conversation with The Power of Purpose at Work and why you should care. If you
have missed it you can catch up on it by clicking
here.
This week I want to continue this conversation
and delve a little deeper in the nature of purpose. As I have already pointed
out in my previous post, to get the best value from these reflections and to
receive deeper insights from them is to read with nothing on your mind. To get behind
the written words, even behind their meanings.
The insights that I am talking about are not my
insights, they are yours. They emerge from when you go to that space within. A
space that sits beyond the distorted view of the intellectual mind and that
often gets in the way of insight, creativity and all things great. It’s a space
you already know. A space where new and fresh ideas come to light, where
solutions to problems seem to just appear. You may experience it in the shower,
while driving, while going for a walk or a hike, or while immersed in any other
activity that lets your intellectual mind go quiet.
Purpose Driven versus
Personal Agenda Driven!
With this in mind, let’s chat about Purpose
versus Personal Agenda! A concept I was introduced to many years ago. It first
intrigued me and then it inspired me. So what’s behind it? And how does it help
you and your business to make change stick?
Let me begin with asking you a couple of
questions. Firstly, do you like making a difference in people’s lives? Secondly,
do you like making money? On the surface, the answers might seem fairly
obvious, right? Silly questions Mike, I can hear you say, of course we like to
make a difference and of course we like to make money.
Let’s put the focus of these questions into
perspective. Think of a time and place when you went to buy something, a car, a
TV or a meal. What was the experience like? Where was the attention of the
person that served you? Was it on you or on themselves?
If it was on you, how did that come across? How
did it make you feel? How connected did you feel with that person and their
business? How compelled did you feel to do business with them?
If it was on themselves, how did you experience
that scenario? How compelled did you feel to engage and do business with them?
The difference in experience could be the
difference between being focused on delighting customers, solving their
problems and taking care of them. That’s PURPOSE! Or being focused on reaching
targets, making sales and meeting key performance indicators. That’s PERSONAL
AGENDA!
Now, there is nothing wrong with having a
personal agenda, on the contrary. It’s vital part of maintaining your
operation. However, when our Personal Agenda is in the forefront of our mind,
it’s all about us. Here we can easily disconnect with the very people that pay
our wages and our rents, our customers. They don’t feel the love!
On the flipside, when PURPOSE rules the roost,
it’s all about the people that we serve. When purpose is your dominant force, your
personal agenda is running in the background, taking on a support role.
This shows up in every fibre of your being. In
the way you think, in the way you speak, the way you behave and the way you
act. It’s contagious! It connects with the outside world. It feels the love!
How does it
contribute to making change stick?
“Purpose driven = how
can I serve? Personal agenda driven = what’s in it for me?
Organisations are generally run by people. People
with lack of meaningfulness in their work disconnect. The default to their personal
agenda with a “What’s in it for me attitude!” They focus on the negatives and look
for faults. They stressed and often
resentful for not being heard and valued. Organisations that are only personal agenda
driven often lack a clear vision, a meaningful reason and leadership that entices
its people to feel inspired and support its cause. It keeps people in the dark
and forces change on them which causes resistance to that change.
Purpose driven organisations have an embodied
understanding WHY they exist. They generally stand for something beyond
generating sales, meeting targets and saving costs. They truly want to make a meaningful
difference to their staff, their customers and the wider community. When that meaningful
difference is projected into the workplace culture it creates a spirit that
people want to be part of, staff and customers alike. They provide an environment
that gives meaning to people. They feel drawn to it. Staff wants to serve and customers
want to buy in this environment.
Purpose driven people and organisation focus on “Who
and how can I serve?” Agenda driven people and organisations focus on “What’s
in it for me?”
Caution: Personal Agenda dressed up as False Purpose.
Many organisations talk about purpose but act personal agenda. They talk about
people as their greatest asset and customers first. Yet their focus is on the
bottom lines and targets. There is a disconnection from the human aspect. It
feels forced. The potential of its people that it calls its greatest asset is
often underutilised or ignored. And their customers are just seen as a money
making opportunity. That may work in the short term but does nothing for its
long term sustainability!
So where do we
start to develop a Purpose Driven Organisation?
“Personal Agenda +
Meaningfulness = Purpose!”
It starts with bringing meaningfulness to what
you do as an organisation and share this meaningfulness throughout your
organisation. Talk is cheap. Do not just talk about meaningfulness. Walk you
talk, from the top down and from the bottom up. Bring it to life. Let it show
up in your thinking, in the way you speak, in the way you behave and in the way
you act.
Here are some highly technical and complex techniques to start the
process … are you ready? Here they are …
"Say hello to each other
and with a genuine smile that reaches your eyes. Say thank you for contributing
and helping for doing their job, no matter how small. Allow people to be
people, give them room to do their work … AVOID micro managing, especially when
you have highly competent people working for you, it's annoying ... to them!.
Micro managing tells more about you then them."
You may think this seems obvious. Yet so many managers and leaders
focus on the BIGGER stuff and fail to connect at the ground floor. Try it out and
see what happens. People go out of their way when they are treated as human
beings!
When purpose is at work people want to be part of the journey. It is
inspirational. They believe in what the organisation stands for and what it is
trying to achieve. It's transformational!
Let me finish with a metaphor.
“We buy great coffee,
not the coffee cup it is served in!”
In Australia we have a coffee culture. There are
coffee shops all over the place. We appreciate great coffee. We don’t buy
coffee for the cup it is served in. We buy the coffee for its quality and the
experience that it gives us. And if it comes with great service the better!
How many businesses do you know that serve a distasteful
brew and that are trying to sell you their fancy cups? And then wondering why
customers make a beeline around them?
Here is the thing. Firstly, what is your coffee
and how well do you make it? Purpose driven organisation not only make great
coffee, THEY ARE the great coffee!
What is the quality of your coffee? The answer
is with your people and your customers! In the way you serve with them and for
them!
To
your highest and best
Mike
PS if the above reflection resonates with you and you want to know how to develop and connect with others through your 'WHY' you may wish to consider the following:
We’re looking for a small group of very specific people for a 'transformational leadership' program.
- You are a new or seasoned leader of people (i.e. team-leader, department head, general manager, sales manager, HR professional, training professional, OD professional, coach, etc).
- You work in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environments.
- You are asked to do more with less. To create better outcomes with less resources.
- You’re an enthusiastic, optimistic, open minded and friendly people-person.
- You genuinely want to make a difference and create an environment where people can flourish and organisations can thrive.
- You have an open approach to learning, and are willing to step out of your comfort zone if necessary.
- You can keep a secret.
Talk to you soon!
To your highest and best
Mike
PS Why consider replying?
Listen to how this program impacted on Michelle Holland, a recent graduate! Click here or on the picture below.
PPS Here is a gift Thriving or Diving in Uncertain Times!
PPPS if this is not for you but you know of someone that might be a good fit please forward this email to them and ask them to reply to this email address mike@thoughtleadingpeople.com.au.
About Mike Schwarzer
Mike is a Performance Strategist & Modeler and
an Internationally Certified Trainer in Neuro-Semantic NLP with the
International Society of Neuro-Sematics ISNS. The ISNS is a global NLP community, operating in over 40 countries, dedicated to helping people actualise excellence
by transforming Meaning into Performance. He is also a leadership team member
of the Institute of Neuro-Semantics Australia the Australian branch of ISNS. An
experienced facilitator and coach, with an ability to connect and align people
and organisations, he helps them to fine tune their performance wizardry to
bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to go!
For more information about
Mike visit www.mikeschwarzer.com
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