Page 57 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

those strengths to create value for external stakeholders. At
both personal and organizational levels, the meaning we
find from our strengths deepens as we not only build on our
strengths but build on strengths that strengthen others too.

PRINCIPLE 1
Abundant organizations build on strengths (capabilities in an
organization) that strengthen others.

2. Where Am I Going? (Purpose and Motivation)

Abundance emerges from a clear sense of what we are trying
to accomplish and why. Too often employees’ and employ-
ers’ goals are at cross-purposes, resulting in both individual
frustration and organizational underperformance due to
employee cynicism and lack of perceived corporate vision.
As McKell and his team worked through the paradoxical
goals of trust, efficiency, and citizenship, they created a sense
of corporate purpose that helped employees fulfill their per-
sonal purposes through their work at the bank. Employees
who can meet their personal goals at work remain motivated
and engaged; those who can’t, go in a different direction,
physically or emotionally.
Chapter 4 offers suggestions for how leaders create
purposeful organizations that help employees’ personal
ambitions match organizational goals. When our personal
goals align with the organization’s goals, work feels like a
meaningful extension of our private journey. As we both
own and personalize our company’s mission, we find oppor-
tunities to impact broad societal problems we care about.
Social responsibility and environmental activism are fields
that speak to the importance of addressing society’s biggest

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