Page 277 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

IMPLICATIONS FOR EXECUTIVES, HUMAN RESOURCES, AND INDIVIDUALS

• • How do you feel about the work you do?
• • How do customers feel as they receive the outcomes of
your work?
• • How do you use your strengths and values at work, and
how often?
• • How do you see your work contributing to things you
care about?
• • What are you learning about yourself in this job?
• • How do you explain what you do at work to your closest
friends and family?
• • How much energy and passion do you feel for your
work?

These questions focus on the emotion, values, and mean-
ing inherent in work. They legitimate conversations about
meaning at work. Of course, executive openness and acces-
sibility will accentuate the grumbling of the disaffected, but
thoughtful executives can use this to forestall bigger prob-
lems and make course corrections, as well as to ferret out
more positive patterns. Sometimes listening comes from
face-to-face employee visits in town hall meetings, at site vis-
its, or on employee road shows. With technology, leaders can
also get a sense from blogs, Web chat rooms, and employee
networks. In all these listening posts, it is critical not to over-
or underreact. It is also crucial not to “teach to the test”
(rewarding the “right” comments rather than allowing com-
ments to reflect real feelings). As leaders move around asking
about meaning, they will raise awareness and accountability
among others for its creation. In addition, senior executives
can do organization meaning audits using the questions we
laid out in Chapter 2 to determine whether their organiza-
tion encourages meaning in each of the seven dimensions.

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