Tal Ben-Shahar and Angus Ridgway’s SHARP model of leadership looks at Performance Multiplier 5: PURPOSE
MYTH # 5: The key to fulfillment lies in seeking and finding the meaning of life.
Just as a compass is a navigational tool that points to the North Pole giving you your bearings, your “True North” is your internal compass representing your values and beliefs that you lead by and become even more effective when aligned with universal and timeless principles.
People with an external locus of control believe their life is influenced by chance, luck or environmental factors over which they have no control. Many strive to find that ‘dream job’ that will provide meaning for them, hoping an employer will design one for them. But they wind up feeling dissatisfied or ‘settling’ for a routine job.
Entry level work rarely holds great value for the worker unless it is seen as an opportunity for self-growth.
People who perceive an internal locus of control believe they are in control of their lives and actively provide value to their work. Even if there is nothing overtly meaningful in the nature of the work they engage in, they can still inject it with meaning. “It’s not about the job. It’s about you.”
10x leaders infuse meaning into their work and also help their colleagues do the same.
We usually see our work through one of 3 lenses: a job, a career or a calling. Studies show how seemingly mundane work can be full of meaning for one worker and an occupation widely viewed as fulfilling can be devoid of meaning to another.
A janitor at a hospital may see his work as a calling: contributing to the smooth operation of a larger mission of healing; engaging with patients and staff, spreading cheer and goodwill and taking pride in the significant role he plays in otherwise tedious work. (I have seen this first hand during a recent hospital stay).
By the same token, a doctor at the hospital may see her work as just a job: the daily grind is seen as a means to earning an income fulfilling her life’s education. She may go home tired and relieved the day is over having done what she is proficient at without savoring the beauty of having made a difference in a patient’s life. At first glance, some may see the janitor to be doing a meaningless job and the doctor to be fulfilling a higher purpose. Yet, the reverse can be true. Individual mindsets make all the difference in how each perceives his/her work.
Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton studied Job Crafting. A bricklayer may view his work as a job “I am laying bricks”; a second brick layer may view his work as a career “I am building a church”; and a third brick layer may view his work as a calling “I am building the house of God”. All three are doing the same work yet each looks through a different lens.
You can change the lens you look through and the way you interpret the value of your work. Or you can expand the role you play and add dimensions to it that hold greater value to you. Or you can create opportunities and seek out challenges that speak to you. The one who experiences his work as a calling is looking at the bigger picture and infusing his work with meaning.
“Job crafting ……. can bring about numerous positive outcomes, including engagement, job satisfaction, resilience, and thriving.” Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.
How meaningful is your work to you? How fulfilled do you feel with at least some aspects of it, if not all its sundry details? Take stock and believe in what you do. Find meaning in life.