Higher purpose is simply the reason we exist (whether “we” is defined as an individual, a team, or a company). It’s about being part of something bigger than ourselves as individuals, and doing something more meaningful than just making money as companies.
Values and behaviors are the way we live out that purpose. They’re the beliefs and daily actions we take toward reaching it. We need to define specific behaviors for each value in order to put words into action. They help take mission statements beyond meaningless words on a wall. This helps give clarity about how we actually live out our values in the form of measurable behaviors and systems that hold us accountable.
Together, values and behaviors show us how to enact a value like integrity so we don’t follow in the footsteps of Enron, which claimed integrity was a top value while execs were squandering billions in employee pension benefits. The lack of accountable behaviors explains how Volkswagen convinced customers they were selling environmentally friendly cars though they were later caught cheating on emissions tests— a lie that cost the company at least 6.5 billion euros to recover from.
This is not to say these brands are automatically enemies or evil. If you look under the hood of every company, there are people making decisions that are more wrong than right, doing more harm than good in the world. And vice versa. Of course we know there were good people at Enron and Volkswagen. But the difference between companies that prioritize people effectively and those that don’t is how much the leaders are committed to rooting their purpose in accountable values and behaviors.
That connection means that you get top-down, bottom-up, inside-out alignment across the company and ensure people are accountable for what they say and do. That cultivates an environment of people doing the right things for each other and the business, not doing the things they can get away with. It creates trust and assurance that everyone is making decisions not just for more profit but in service of the organization’s purpose too.
That’s the organizational side of things, but again, the critical part often ignored or dismissed is connecting the org to each of our individual selves. The core of who we are as human beings, the values we hold dear, and the purposeful life we all want to be present in the work we do every day.
When they’re all lived together, purpose, values, and behaviors (PVB) become the source of light you’re striving toward and the roots in your greenhouse. They’re what guides your decisions and defines your character because they include anything that means everything to you. When something in the world doesn’t make sense anymore, your PVBs ensure that your own moral compass is guiding and grounding you at the same time. Other compasses may and will differ, but that’s OK, because you’re staying true to your authentic self.
By establishing what matters to you most, you make it much simpler to let the chaos of the world keep swirling outside and focus on what’s within your control. When you have a life decision you’re torn about-such as one regarding your career, relationships, or living situation —PVBs help make those seemingly impossible decisions eas-ier. Choices are simplified when you know you’re making them from the heart of who you are, not what others want of you.
Most importantly, this is how you see the way your existence ripples an impact from you through your work to the community. It enables you to establish how the team or company should be aligned. As your PVBs grow within you, you’ll naturally start showing your intrinsic self to the world just by being you. You’ll feel meaningfully happy and human, grounded and whole, no matter how messy and mad the world can be.
Being fully human at work means knowing your strengths and weak-nesses, hopes and fears, tasks and dreams and embracing them all. It’s worth being aware that our prefrontal cortex controls our ability to be analytical so we can make sensible, logical decisions, while our midbrain stores primal impulses to help us survive. When emotion takes over, we want to fight, take flight, freeze, feel shame, or cry for help.
We all have a primal “monkey mind” (aka inner voice or critic) and subconscious that are liable to rile our emotions, make us question our worth, or lead us into imposter syndrome because we look or feel different from everyone else in the department or conference room. They can distract or scare us from truly adapting to thrive by pulling us back to what feels familiar and safe.
But it’s OK. Our reactions are real, and they’re there for a reason. Maybe we burned our hand on an iron when we were six years old, so we get anxious when we feel hot. Or a crocodile tried to kill our ancestors in prehistoric times, so we instinctively stay away from the fence at the zoo. Or we watched Pee-wee Herman as an infant and remain suspicious of red beach cruisers. Who knows, but everyone has their own traumas— some more serious than others— and part of our life’s journey is to understand what sets off our alarm bells and make conscious (prefrontal) decisions to quiet those monkey voices down.
As humans, we’re made up of genes that were embedded generations before we existed (our nature and influences from our environment since we were born (our nurture). Then, ultimately, there’s one last variable: our individual ability to live in this Adaptive Age and make decisions, to exercise your right to make our choice no matter what nature and nurture we’ve been a part of.
Across all the research that’s been done on happiness and positive psychology, three consistent ways—-or, as we say, levers emerged to increase happiness levels within yourself and your org. These levers are our perceived senses of control, progress, and connectedness. Company cultures that embed these levers systemically are better equipped to assess their current state, evaluate what levers can. be used to improve the greenhouse, then adapt to thrive.
• Control means giving people autonomy and agency over their work, empowering people with trust, and allowing them to make their own decisions— because they know their roles and responsibilities the best. Control can come in many forms: from choosing when to work (scheduling) and where to work (remotely or in the office) to creating your own job title (like the receptionist who was the director of first impressions) and deciding on the functions you fill.
• Progress removes a common stress by taking you from working toward unachievable goals to setting achievable ones. Especially in demanding corporate, remote, and start-up environments, one of the most common complaints is burnout, which is exacerbated by finish lines seeming so far in the distance. Now that more of us are working remotely and the lines between work and life are blurred, burnout rates are even higher. But if you celebrate milestones along the way and reward progress (not perfection), people feel more productive and engaged. The more progress we perceive and the greater the sense of accomplishment we feel in our work, the more sustainably happy we can be.
• Connectedness and meaningful relationships are also sustainable levers of happiness. People work harder for their friends than for people who are just their coworkers. Especially with the spike in working remotely, we need to reframe how we build real relationships in the workplace, using practices like kicking off meetings with quick and personal pulse checks or ending meetings with a round of gratitude. Instead of relying on the usual happy hours or annual holiday party, relationships deepen when we launch programs to share personal goals, including the purposes and values we hope to live up to (even when they’re unrelated to work), while incentivizing people to support each other in living up to them.
One way to reframe accountability is to think about it from a more human perspective. Instead of being overseen by Big Brother (or Sis-ter), think of it as connecting and banding together. A term for this is co-owned accountability. When it’s just about accountability, there’s a sense that managers are “making” people accountable. The motivation is extrinsic because it’s about expectations, rewards, and consequences. But when there’s also co-ownership, people are claiming their responsi-bilities. People are more engaged because they’re exercising the scientific levers of control, progress, and connectedness with one another. Adaptive orgs need these levers to embed co-owned accountability.
We can see accountability as a two-way street between teams and teams of teams:
• Leaders are accountable to the people they lead not because they want to squeeze work and productivity out of people, but because they care about helping them grow and achieve their goals, inside and outside of work. Leaders recognize and incentivize both culture contribution and performance, not just one or the other. (As a result, leaders reap the economic rewards of people being more productive and engaged.)
• Individuals and teams, as well as their leaders, are accountable for their pact within their teams and company once they sign on. They live by the company’s Purpose + Values (through specific behaviors), and the pact helps them perform and provide the value they were hired to do. (It’s part of the pact that our life and work goals are supported by our leader.)
Nature helps us understand how complex systems work through self-organization. As humans we can learn and mimic what’s valuable for us. By applying the conditions of alignment, belonging, account-ability, and commitment to our greenhouses, we’re creating people ecosystems that foster control, progress, and connectedness (the levers of happiness). In effect, we’re building environments in which people can self-elect and commit to (or self-select out of) the long-term view of adapting and thriving together.
Source : Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact by Jenn Lim
Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56625103-beyond-happiness
Read the Previous Article in the Series :
Thinking Beyond Science 
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