Before picking up where we left off, I’d like to touch on something I mentioned briefly last month, the release of Leading With A Clear Purpose. As I write this (on Feb 19), that book will be officially published and available for order through Amazon in just a few hours (Feb 20). And like What’s KILLING Your Profitability? (It ALL Boils Down to Leadership!) did last year, the new book hit #1 in three Amazon best-seller categories right after becoming available for pre-order! Thank you for your support in that.
Now, let’s get back to it…
I closed last time by suggesting that we may have a shot at doing nearly anything lovingly if we’re able to connect it to a clear (and meaningful) purpose. There are very few things that annoy me more than Northern Virginia traffic. While I’m perfectly comfortable driving 80mph just inches from what seems like every other car on the planet, I don’t have a tremendous amount of patience with other drivers’ poor decisions. That said, I’m adamant about driving Cindy to and from her eye specialist in Vienna every two months or so. I jokingly say that I’m not sure she’s capable of making the trip without me, but the reality is that the round trip through even the worst traffic possible has become something I make lovingly because I’ve connected it directly to something I’m passionate about: spending quality time with my wife.
In the book, I emphasize how important it is for leaders to connect the organization’s mission, vision, and values directly with a clear purpose that inspires their teams. Even as parents, we can rarely rely solely on “because I said so” as the reason anyone complies with our requests (or commands). But before we dig into how much a clear purpose can help guide the folks we care about most, let’s think about just how much it can serve us as we’re trudging through something that’s generally miserable but completely necessary.
I have no idea what that is for you; maybe cooking, cleaning, yard work? I’ll leave that for you to decide. For me, there are three things that I do almost every single day that I don’t like at all: managing my calendar, writing, and an elliptical machine workout. The calendar is painfully tedious and far more restrictive than I’m wired for, but I developed that habit twenty-five years ago and it’s increased my productivity more than any other thing I can point to. If I’m being honest, I nearly didn’t graduate high school because of my disdain for writing (and you can likely tell that I still don’t care much about proper grammar). Since so much of the work we do today is based on creating material we can provide for companies to develop better leaders, writing must happen. And that stupid elliptical machine, ugh! But I couldn’t just keep getting fatter…
It’s one thing to do something we don’t like for a time or two but sustaining any task we loathe (without someone hovering over us with a taser) is unlikely. However, a clear purpose can make some of the most miserable things we have to do almost enjoyable – IF we’ve made a solid connection. As parents, as friends, or in any role with the slightest bit of leadership responsibility, there will be plenty of things we’re required to compromise on. Connecting that compromise to a clear purpose can make a huge difference in the attitude we complete the task with, and it will definitely serve others better when we do.
