Page 109 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

include industries focused on helping people meet, mediat-
ing conflicts, supporting families, and socializing the rising
generation. Within companies human resource departments
are often charged with concern for connection needs.
Not every organization finds its primary mission in get-
ting people together. But every organization benefits from
the abundance that comes from connection.
In your organization, where does connection live? Who
are the proponents of people-oriented policies and programs?
Whether or not your organization is explicitly service ori-
ented, who pays attention to the needs of people both inside
the organization and as customers and stakeholders? Any
organization that does not provide real value to real people
is unlikely to endure over time.

4. Empowerment

On the top right is empowerment, characterized by a high
need for achievement that is channeled into high investment
in people, especially in working to overcome human suffer-
ing. A high-abundance version of empowerment would be
the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” where
skilled designers and craftsmen use their talents and skills
to redesign and rebuild an unworkable house for a deserv-
ing but impoverished family. They tailor the new house to
the needs and personalities of the family, involving the whole
community and working against the clock to finish the house
in a week. The needs, feelings, and desires of people are fore-
most in such scenarios, but so are the skills, learning, and
accomplishments of those who try to help. Other examples
might be a skilled teacher who loves developing students, a
talented political leader who finds creative solutions to real-
world problems, and a hardworking religious leader who loves

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