The Role of Leaders in Helping Others Find Meaning at Work
"Ever
more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for." -
Viktor E. Frankl
The
first job I ever had was working second shift in an injection plastics molding
factory in Binghamton, New York during the summer between my first and second
years of college. I started on the simplest machine making tiny, yellow,
dynamite caps and worked my way up to operating injection molds that made
plastic liners for sewer pipes, contraceptive foam applicators, and plastic
cogs for sewing machines. Each mold was operated by one person so there was no
one to talk to, except on break, but the novelty of moving from machine to
machine every night was enough to keep me motivated for the first couple of
weeks.
Soon
after, the foreman realised that I was becoming bored and disengaged as the
monotony and the fatigue from standing on a cement floor for 8 hours began to
take its toll. One afternoon he assigned me to a machine at the back of the
factory that made the plastic red lenses that are inserted in stoplights. As he
was explaining how to operate the machinery he leaned over and said in a quiet
voice, “You know, this job is really, really important. When you do a good job,
the plastic in this lens reflects the light behind it just right so that
drivers can see the red signal when they pull up to the stoplight. Doing the
best quality job on this machine will help to save many people’s lives. I think
you have had enough experience on the other machines that I can trust you.”
My
ears perked up and I promised him, and myself, that I would do my best work all
shift long. In a brief moment, he helped transform a dull, tedious and
unpleasant job into something meaningful for me, giving me energy, focus and
commitment to my job that was completely lacking when all I could see was
another monotonous task.
The universal search for meaning
The
search for meaning is universal, as noted by the neurologist, psychiatrist and
holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl in one of the most powerful and enduring books
of the last century, Man’s Search for Meaning. While it is a search in
which we must each actively participate, the leaders in our lives play a
crucial role in helping us connect or re-connect to that sense of purpose, to
what is meaningful, and help fuel our desire to not only survive, but to thrive
in all aspects of our lives.
The
current leadership and talent literature is rife with suggestions about how to
engage, excite and keep employees. While job enrichment, flexible
benefits packages, and other levers can all help to engage talent, explicitly
providing a link between individuals’ values, what they find meaningful, and
the work that they do every day can be a powerful motivator.
For
example, studies have shown that when people feel that they are pursuing a
profound purpose or engaging in work that is important personally, there are
significant positive effects such as reductions in stress, turnover,
absenteeism, dissatisfaction, cynicism and depression. In addition, research
shows increases in commitment, happiness, satisfaction, engagement,
effort and empowerment, and a sense of fulfillment among those who
find meaning in their work. And what is important is not the nature of
the work itself, but the relationship between the individual and their work.
In
2001, researchers Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton conducted a study of how
people coped with what many would consider extremely distasteful jobs at a
hospital in the Midwest. Interviewing a custodian on staff, Candice Philipps,
who was assigned to clean up vomit and excrement in the oncology ward when
people came for chemotherapy, they found that even someone with duties
distasteful to most, could find meaning in their work: “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. I make it okay to
feel awful, to lose control, and to be unable to manage themselves. My role is
crucial to the healing process.” In Candice’s eyes, her job was not just a job,
but a calling.
Kim
Cameron, in his book Positive Leadership, observes that work is
associated with meaningfulness when it has one or more of the following key
attributes:
- The work has an important impact on the well-being of human beings
- The work is associated with an important virtue or personal value
- The work has an impact that extends beyond the immediate time frame or creates a ripple effect
- The work builds supportive relationships or a sense of community in people
The Role of Leadership in Meaning-Making
While
some people come to work for a particular organisation because it is aligned
with their values, has a clear impact on the well-being of others, or provides
clear meaning through its long-term impact and/or supportive relationships,
leaders can also help employees find meaningfulness in their work where these
attributes are less obvious.
Executives
I work with often become so entangled with the enormity of their positions in
guiding their organisations to success that they often lose sight of their role
in helping their employees sustain their energy and commitment to that success
by staying connected to what is meaningful in their lives. Even in
organisations that have a mission to do good in the world, leaders need to
continually re-connect each person in the organization to that mission and
provide a sense of purpose for coming to work every day.
In
an era where we get beaten down by harsh economic realities, 24/7 work demands
on our time, and increasing levels of stress in all areas of our lives, it is
critically important that leaders find ways to help all of their employees
connect or re-connect to what is important, to a purpose, to our universal
search for meaning. And just as importantly, leaders need to re-connect with
their own sense of purpose to be able to continue to fuel their own inner fire.
To
conclude with a quote from Viktor Frankl, “… the meaning of life differs from
man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is
not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a
person’s life at a given moment.”
Read more at http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/the-role-of-leaders-in-helping-others-find-meaning-at-work-3055?utm_source=INSEAD+Knowledge&utm_campaign=20951bbf72-19_Dec_mailer12_19_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e079141ebb-20951bbf72-249840429&nopaging=1#PD1JtvllxV4tOtL8.99
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