Page 29 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

one or two elements of an abundant organization, as shown
in the preceding examples. We cull these and many other
examples to offer leaders a menu of questions and activities
to help them create meaning for employees and turn it into
sustained organizational abundance.

Recessions of Meaning

In either good or bad markets, without bottom-line results
organizations will simply fold, leaving even able workers
twiddling their thumbs. Organizations in any economy must
also make sense to the people who compose them. When
our organizations enact our highest values and embody our
best aspirations, they inspire our best efforts, and nothing
short of our best efforts will keep us afloat when storms are
raging and the ship has sprung a leak—or when fair winds
lull us into lethargy and hubris.
In the 2009 recession, many governments bailed out
companies with toxic assets. Bailing out sinking ships is a
bad analogy for what makes organizations seaworthy, how-
ever. Before setting out for open seas, we must not only bail
out the water but fix the leaks. Organization leaks occur not
only when leaders fail to provide great products and solid
returns, but also when they waver on ethical principles,
isolate themselves from the consequences of their choices,
abdicate responsibilities for strategy and innovation, or drop
the ball of timely action. Organization leaks also occur when
employees put in their time but don’t invest their hearts,
when they abandon creativity or integrity, or when they lose
sight of the impact of their work. Organizations that survive
in recessions and thrive during recovery will have leaders

10