Abstract
In today’s fast-paced and complex business environment—where leaders feel pressure to be always on, continuously disrupt themselves and their organizations, and juggle competing work and life priorities—organizations are searching for new ways to support, retain, and reinforce their top talent. There is a growing sense of urgency around this, given the fact that CEO turnover is at an all-time high. 1 Harvard Business Review reported that 50% to 60% of executives fail within the first 18 months of being promoted or hired, 2 and there is a rise in leadership failure due to issues such as stress, burnout, and unethical decisions and behavior. A Harvard Medical School study found that 96% of senior leaders reported feeling burned out, with one-third describing the burnout as “extreme.” 3
The reality is many leaders and organizations are at risk and we must take a different and multidimensional approach to preparing senior executives for these critical and demanding roles. Leaders need investment in physical well-being so they have the energy and capacity to not only meet daily demands but continually take on more. They need the emotional intelligence and resilience to make sound decisions, lead effectively under pressure, and inspire and motivate their teams. And they need the strength of character that enables them to consistently demonstrate ethical behavior and decisions under the most stressful conditions—regardless of the stakes.
Unfortunately, when the stakes and demands are high, leaders often deprioritize and even sacrifice their personal well-being in service of their leadership role and responsibilities, not recognizing that these choices create a downward spiral of their overall performance. Forfeiting their physical well-being (exercise, nutrition, sleep), not taking time for mental recovery (vacation, frequent microbreaks throughout the day), spending less quality time with the people who matter most to them, and turning to unhealthy behaviors to help cope with the stress all contribute to suboptimal performance when performance needs to be at the highest level. When we are physically, mentally, and emotionally depleted, our performance, relationships, and ability to lead effectively and aligned with our deepest values can be compromised.
In response to the intense pressures of the workplace and growing desire by leaders and others to find meaning in work that can be all-consuming, there is a growing trend of organizations to place greater emphasis on purpose as a key component in developing sustainable leaders and organizations.
A growing body of research—including our own at Human Performance Institute—is reinforcing the strong relationship between purpose, employee engagement, and well-being at all levels of the organization. A 2015 Purpose Index study by Imperative found that employees who were purpose-driven were 64% more satisfied in their work, 50% more likely to be in leadership positions, and 47% more likely to promote their employers. 4 In addition, purpose in life has been associated with multiple benefits spanning cognition, cardiovascular, stress response, immunological functioning, mortality, and overall well-being. 5,6
While a focus on purpose is relatively recent in coming to the forefront of leadership and organizational development, it has been central to the research and training conducted at Human Performance Institute (HPI) for more than 30 years. In the 1980s, leveraging world-class sport as a living laboratory, the institute—cofounded by Dr Jim Loehr and Dr Jack Groppel—began its work with some of the world’s top athletes, as well as leaders in other high-stress arenas such as business, medicine, law enforcement, and the military. Purpose has been the core foundational tenet in helping these Olympic athletes, CEOs, military special forces, and others who must consistently operate under intense stress, unleash their full potential and achieve optimal performance. From this body of work, HPI has identified several key areas where purpose is falling short.
While purpose is a key component for helping individuals find meaning in their work and lives, there is a need to go beyond identifying and declaring purpose as a means to achieve individual and organizational well-being.
1. Personal and organizational purposes are NOT the same.
Leaders often become solely focused on organizational purpose—the purpose and mission of the company they lead. This can be out of a sense of duty (“I must serve the company”) or simply from a lack of reflection on the difference between their own purpose and the mission of the company. This lack of differentiation is especially observed in “helping” organizations such as NGOs or healthcare companies that are dedicated to improving or saving lives. For those leaders who might argue that they must be fully invested in their company purpose, an effective response is to ask, “If you are removed from your role tomorrow, does your purpose in life disappear?” When leaders do not prioritize their personal purpose and life, the results can be devastating as they sacrifice their own health, family, and relationships, as well as their ability to effectively lead their teams and consistently make sound and ethical decisions.
2. Purpose must be measurable.
Achieving one’s purpose requires definition, discipline, and metrics that enable individuals to focus on what matters most, identify specific actions they must take, and continually assess if they are on track or where they need to build and shift efforts and energy investments. Leaders often tell us their purpose is to empower, inspire or connect others, or to be the best parent to their children. Without greater focus and definition, any of these broad purposes could actually cause these leaders to burn out due to their inability to define what that truly means, establish boundaries, and assess progress against goals.
3. Purpose must transcend but not neglect self.
While personal purpose should be anchored altruistically, with a focus on having an impact beyond oneself, 7,8 it should not result in a martyr complex. The very idea of having personal (individual) meaning wholly implies that the individual has value. Mistreating oneself by not getting adequate sleep, not prioritizing exercise, not having proper nutrition, or neglecting to prioritize mental and emotional recovery will sabotage one’s ability to achieve what matters most. Recognizing one’s own value, and the importance of investing in one’s own well-being and happiness to achieve one’s best self, is key to fulfilling personal purpose.
4. Purpose is not action.
Developing a clear sense of personal purpose is critical in changing behavior for 2 reasons: purpose is a compass that provides clarity of direction and is a powerful motivating force. However, identifying purpose is just the first step. We must continually be self-aware of the gap between who we want to be as we pursue our purpose and how we are actually showing up. No leader is perfect, so there will always be a gap, but we can close that gap by creating very specific action plans, with the power of our purpose motivating us to push forward. In HPI’s 4-dimensional training model—which is rooted in the sciences of performance psychology, exercise physiology, and nutrition—purpose is the spiritual dimension, which is rooted in our deepest values and beliefs. Purpose both influences and is influenced by our daily energy investments in the physical, mental, and emotional domains.
Four-dimensional training model
Creating a leadership legacy that withstands the storms of the modern corporate environment begins with the critical act of identifying one’s personal purpose and then defining actions and appropriate energy investments in the physical, emotional, and mental domains to help activate that purpose. Achieving the highest level of purpose includes a process of defining and fortifying one’s character, which is the behavioral manifestation of the spiritual, emotional and mental dimensions, and the litmus test of whether our behaviors are aligned with our purpose, especially during times of stress.
Character is the content of our legacy and reflects how we are showing up in our organization and in our life. We have seen in recent times with global movements such as #MeToo that character has become a significant focal point of employees, consumers, and shareholders.
Strengthening Character—A Critical Gap in Leadership Development
As we all have witnessed in the daily media, there has been a sharp rise in ethical lapses over the past couple years. A PwC CEO study reported a 36% increase in CEO dismissals due to ethical lapses, 9 and in 2018, CEO dismissals for ethical lapses exceeded dismissals for financial performance or Board struggles for the first time in history. 10 We are often surprised when we learn of an indiscretion or questionable behavior from an individual we held in high regard. What was it that caused a seemingly ethical leader to say or do something so “uncharacteristic” of that person? As noted by Dr Jim Loehr, who has spent years researching and training character, a leader’s emotional intelligence and strength of character cannot truly be measured until subjected to intense pressure—which is often too late.
Can Character Really Be Trained?
Many people believe that character is static. We are often quick to pass judgment on the strength of another person’s character, yet most of us would likely rate our own character strength as relatively high. The truth is, character is not a fixed attribute, but rather a “muscle” that requires ongoing investment and attention. At HPI, we train leaders by administering assessments that create awareness about their own character strength and areas of vulnerability, providing opportunities for self-reflection about their desired life and leadership legacy. We then lead them through intentional exercises designed to create their own code of conduct that reflects who they want to be, how they want to show up, and how they want others to experience them. This “Personal Credo” as we call it then serves as a filter and compass so that when they are faced with difficult decisions and choices—when they are feeling overwhelmed, when they experience fear or desire, or when the stakes are high—their character goes into “autopilot” pulling from their deepest values and keeping them on course.
Bringing Purpose and Character to Life and Leadership
Activating personal purpose and strengthening character are critical to developing sustainable, high-performing leaders and subsequently high-performing organizations. Character is how people live into their purpose through behavioral choices but is continually put to the test under intense pressure. It is encouraging that many organizations are talking about purpose and having conversations around ethical leadership. They now need to go a step further and provide training that can bring these 2 components together. Leaders must be grounded in individual and organizational purpose that is supported by strong character to meet the challenges of today’s complex environment.
Finally, it is critical that this training starts at the very top, as leaders now have an even greater role to play as the ultimate influencers of culture, catalysts for unleashing innovation within their organizations, and stewards of company reputation and shareholder value. They set the expectations and tone and must role model what it means to invest in their own well-being and lead with character in a way that aligns with their personal purpose and reflects a sustainable and meaningful life and leadership legacy.