Finding and Activating Purpose at Work with Ashish Kothari

Ashish Kothari: Hi, my dear friends! In this podcast, which is a continuation of our series on how we've made unhappiness a habit, I want to touch on a topic that is really near and dear to my heart. Instead of covering three unhappiness habits, I'm going to dedicate this episode to just one of those habits.

In fact, it's not so much a habit as it is a mental model—a belief that many of us have adopted. It's the belief that work and purpose, or meaning in life, don't need to be linked.

I've been running workshops and transformations on the topic of meaning and purpose for individuals and organizations. I can't tell you how many times I get asked this question: "Why do we have to find meaning at work? I just work to earn a paycheck and find meaning outside of work."

Think about that and see if you are one of those who might either somewhat agree with it or see work as nothing more than a way to live your life outside of it.

This belief is prevalent across many levels. For example, some people feel, "I've never really loved my work, but it's fine. I love my life and the luxuries it affords me." This mindset is more common today than ever before.

In this episode, I want to dedicate time to busting that myth. I want to help you understand, through research and science, the cost we are paying—both as individuals, leaders, and organizations—if we don't play a role in awakening purpose and meaning at work and helping individuals connect and find meaning in their work. What is the huge price we are paying?

Finding meaning at work

So, let's start with the most logical point of view I'd like to make. What's the most logical argument? Think about it: what activity do you spend more time on today than any other, aside from sleeping? For most of you who are working, the answer is work. On average, most people will spend anywhere from 70,000 to 100,000 hours over their lifetime working.

So, when we spend almost a third of our lives at work, and we don't find meaning in it, it becomes nothing but a survival mechanism. How can we truly thrive or flourish in life if our work lacks meaning?

When we don't find meaning at work, we often try to balance work and life. But isn't it curious how we create these demarcations? We draw a line between work and life, but we don't make similar demarcations for other aspects of life outside work.

For example, we don't specifically allocate time saying, "This is the amount of time I want to spend on myself," or "This is the time I want to spend with my spouse, my kids, my friends," or "This is the time I want to spend working out or doing community service." We just flow in and out of these activities as life goes on.

But when it comes to work and life, we often set strict boundaries, saying, "This is the amount I want to work." Why is that? Often, it's because the work we do has little or no meaning. All the other aspects of life are inherently meaningful, so we don't need to separate them.

In fact, if you look at artists or great athletes, they don't separate their work from life in this way. A painter doesn’t say, "This is my time to paint, but the rest of the time I'm doing other things." They are constantly thinking about what they are creating.

The same is true for athletes; they're always thinking about how to improve. And the same goes for entrepreneurs who are truly passionate about their work—they think about it all the time.

However, when work lacks meaning, we try to restrict it to specific periods so it doesn't take over more of our lives. But there can be a different approach. There can be a way to recraft what we do at work, and I'll introduce that tool later in this podcast.

So think about that, friends. Are you struggling to find work-life balance? Are you truly finding meaning, or are you still living in the paradigm where work and life need to be separate? That's a bit of the world I find myself in, especially over the last two years with Happiness Squad.

I loved my time at my previous employer, McKinsey. I often told people I worked 120 percent of the time and lived 30 percent of the time. A lot of people ask, "How has your life changed now?" Well, I still work as hard as I can. I'm still working long hours because, for me, work has become life.

But what's different now is that I feel like I'm living 120 percent of the time. There's only about 25 to 30 percent of things I do that I might not enjoy, like sending invoices to clients or handling some of the social media posts. I don't particularly enjoy those tasks, but I do them because I know how critical they are for spreading awareness about our work.

So, the things I don't enjoy are much smaller, and I feel like I'm living 120 percent of the time. And I believe that's what's possible for many of us if we find and integrate meaning into what we do. This concept is more prevalent today, and the gap between people who find meaning at work and those who don't is becoming increasingly significant. It's a new habit we need to cultivate.

The cost of lacking purpose at work

Viktor Frankl, in the late fifties or sixties, said something profound: "Today we have more means to live, but less meaning to live for." Think about that, dear friends. What was true in the 60s has only accelerated and is even more relevant today.

In fact, a few years ago, when I was at McKinsey, some of my colleagues conducted seminal research around purpose. What they found was that for 70% of employees in this study, their sense of purpose was defined by their work.

But here's where it gets interesting. When we looked at senior executives, almost 85% of them agreed that they could live their purpose in their day-to-day life. Can you guess what that number looks like for frontline managers and employees?

It's shocking—only 15% of frontline managers and employees agreed that they could find purpose at work. About 36% were neutral, saying they might or might not find purpose at work. Here's a concerning statistic: 49% of frontline managers and employees disagreed that their work helps them live their purpose, their "why."

Think about it, friends: if 50% of your people don't find meaning at work, all you're getting are their hands and legs, not their hearts and minds. Imagine what could be unlocked if they did find meaning.

This brings me to a well-known statistic from Gallup's research: consistently, only about 30% of people find engagement at work. Globally, that number drops to about 20%, even lower than in the U.S. This is why we need to take this topic seriously. The cost of not finding meaning in our work is a very heavy one, dear friends. It's a cost we can no longer afford to ignore.

Why it’s important to find meaning at work

Let's think about why it's important to find meaning at work, and let's examine it from different perspectives. We'll look through the lenses of psychology, science, and the science of flourishing. We can also consider it from a physiological standpoint.

Starting with physiology, in my book, Hardwired for Happiness, I highlight several studies showing that those who find meaning at work live longer, are more resilient, have better physical health, and have a lower risk of Alzheimer's. There are a couple of studies I want to highlight.

A study in Japan in: 2019

There's also extensive research on the Ikigai model in the blue zones—regions where people live longer and have more centenarians as a percentage of the population. People in these regions find meaning in what they do every day.

If you're interested in this topic, there's an inspiring movie, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Jiro, who is 98 years old, became famous because his sushi restaurant, located in a train station, was one of the first Michelin-starred restaurants housed in such a place. Jiro’s whole life and work revolve around his purpose. His son, who was 50 at the time of the movie, was still apprenticing under him because, for them, bringing out the best of the fish in service to their customers is their calling. Even in his 80s and 90s, Jiro continues to show up, find the best fish, and make sushi for his customers.

Let's shift focus for a moment and consider this from a health perspective. We know that finding meaning at work benefits physical health, but it also improves psychological health. Research shows that those who find meaning are more resilient, adaptable, and experience less depression and anxiety. Nietzsche beautifully said, "Those who have a why can survive any how." When our actions are in the context of a bigger "why," it gives us the resilience to keep moving forward, learning, and growing instead of giving up.

How purpose at work affect business performance

Now, let's look at this from a business performance perspective. Why should organizational leaders care about purpose? If you look at research, including studies by McKinsey, you'll find extensive work on this topic. When I was at McKinsey, defining our firm's purpose was a significant project because, for a long time, McKinsey didn't have a purpose statement.

What we found in the research was that employees who find meaning in their work have higher energy levels. More importantly, organizations that infuse meaning and lead with purpose also see higher productivity—almost 8% higher—and reduced attrition rates.

This work has been studied extensively. You'll find purpose and meaning discussed in every major model within positive psychology and the science of happiness.

It appears in Martin Seligman's PERMA model, Tal Ben-Shahar's SPIRE, Emma Seppälä's work, and research from Oxford and London Business School by scholars like Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and Sonja Lyubomirsky. Purpose and meaning are not just "nice to have" concepts; they are consistently linked to performance, both individually and collectively.

Alex Edmans, whom I greatly admire, was among the first to go beyond correlation to demonstrate causation, showing how investing in employees and creating flourishing environments leads to higher performance. He also examined the role of purpose in firm performance.

He beautifully coined the phrase, "If you want to reach the land of profit, follow the road of purpose." Profits, dear friends, are just a byproduct. The true role of businesses is to be a force for good, creating meaning and connecting with our employees to achieve this impact.

Connecting meaning to work

One way to connect meaning to what people are doing is by integrating purpose into daily activities. The person who really started talking about this, around the same time positive psychology was gaining traction, was Marty Seligman. He shifted psychology from studying diseases and illnesses to focusing on flourishing. This shift coincided with the birth of the conscious capitalism movement.

Raj Sisodia, co-founder of Conscious Capitalism, began by studying "firms of endearment," showing that companies that create and deliver superior value, and have customers fall in love with them, achieve outstanding performance. His book The Healing Organization is filled with examples of companies that have elevated purpose to the heart of their operations and seen significant performance benefits as a result.

on. Under his leadership from: 2010

This reorientation changed everything. Employees, or "blue shirts," as they were called, shifted their focus from merely selling products to solving customer problems. The Geek Squad, for instance, emerged from the realization that while customers were buying technology, they also needed support in using it effectively.

Purpose as a driver for organizational success

This concept has been evolving over the past 20 years, but it remains under-discussed in management literature, business schools, and corporate environments. Purpose is not just a buzzword; it's a powerful driver of business performance and employee engagement. If you want to understand how to make this real in your organization, consider exploring these resources and integrating purpose into your leadership approach.

Most companies have a purpose statement or a mission statement—words on a wall somewhere, or perhaps in an investor statement—but they don't keep it front and center. The idea of truly integrating meaning and purpose into the way organizations operate is often overlooked.

I love the work done at the Michigan Ross Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship. Professors Jane Dutton and Amy Wrzesniewski were among the first to develop a tool called Job Crafting. Job Crafting helps employees integrate more meaning and purpose into their everyday work. It's truly beautiful work.

Hopefully, by now, you're convinced of the need to infuse meaning and purpose into what we do every day. And if you're a leader, the importance of integrating it into your organization.

How to find your purpose and meaning at work

How do we go about finding purpose at work? Let's start at the individual level, because without the individual, there is no organization. So, let's step back and consider where purpose can come from.

Purpose can originate outside of work. Many people find meaning in life outside of their jobs. However, purpose can also come from what you do every day in your job. Finally, purpose can come from the organization and the impact it drives. Let's explore each of these individually.

Starting at the individual level, how can we find meaning and purpose? Viktor Frankl, in his book Man's Search for Meaning, talks about this eloquently. We often ask, "What is the meaning of life?"

But, as Frankl suggests, it's more about us being asked this question rather than us asking it of others. It’s important to think about not just the meaning of life but how we can create meaning in life through our daily actions.

Ikigai

The model I love for this, applicable both at an individual and organizational level, is the Ikigai model. Originating from Japan, particularly highlighted in the Blue Zones work led by Dan Buettner, Ikigai invites us to find meaning at the intersection of four elements:

What you love—your passions.

What you're good at—your strengths.

What the world needs.

What the world is willing to pay for.

By combining these four overlapping circles, we can find meaning at their intersection. This requires introspection. That's why in my Hardwired for Happiness model, self-awareness is at the core. You can't find your purpose externally; you have to connect with who you are and turn inward to explore and evaluate your life.

Start by asking yourself, "What do I love?" When we're young, our lives are often dominated by our big dreams and visions—those we write about in college applications and dream about frequently.

Look back over the past 20, 30, or 40 years of your life and identify the high moments. Reflect on what you were doing, who you were becoming, and the impact you were making during those times.

I suggest an approach in my book in the chapter on finding your passions, where you can look at these high moments to identify what you loved about them. If that seems overwhelming, you can also look forward. For the next two or three weeks, take note at various times during the day of what you’re doing and capture those moments when you feel energized and engaged.

Note the conditions: Are you inside or outside? Under time pressure or not? What kind of work are you doing—is it detail-oriented or big-picture problem-solving? Does it involve lots of data or very little? Identify what gives you energy and what drains you. This will provide valuable data to help you tune into what you truly love.

When it comes to identifying your strengths, there are a few different methods. You can do a formal assessment using tools like the Character Strengths Survey, which is free and available online, or the Gallup StrengthsFinder. You can even do this with your whole team to share each other's strengths.

Alternatively, you can simply ask your colleagues. There's an exercise called the Reflected Best Self, developed at Michigan Ross, where you ask your colleagues when they've seen you at your best and to describe what you were doing and what they appreciated about you. This is a powerful way to connect with your strengths. Often, our own strengths are things we take for granted; when others reflect them back to us, we realize not everyone has those abilities. It’s unique to you.

When it comes to what the world needs and is willing to pay for, pay attention to the news articles or stories that trigger a strong reaction in you—something that makes you want to take action.

Look deeper at what about that story resonates with you. There are many crises in the world right now, and understanding which one speaks to you can provide clues about your purpose and calling.

Rethinking meaning in our work

The problem for many of us is that we don't actively consider how to integrate all the elements that bring meaning to our work.

During the early days of COVID, we saw a massive wave of resignations—what's now known as the Great Resignation—where people decided to leave their jobs. Many people felt they were living meaningless lives and thought the answer was to quit and start anew. I was surprised by this because I was already engaged in research, reading, and had reoriented my own life.

Think about it, friends: if you have a job today and don't find meaning in it, consider this perspective. If your company makes even a single dollar in revenue—not profit, just revenue—it's providing a service or product that someone values. It's doing something that someone in the world needs.

After all, when was the last time you paid for something that didn't provide you with some kind of value, unless it was charity? Your company is contributing something of value to the world.

Secondly, if you have a job, you're getting paid for it. This aligns with the idea of what the world needs and is willing to pay for. The world is paying your company, and in turn, your company is paying you.

Thirdly, there’s the aspect of being good at something. If you have a job and have received promotions, it suggests that there's something you do better than others. It might be an innate talent or something you learned—skills you acquired through education and experience.

So, here's my invitation, dear friends: if three out of the four elements of Ikigai are already present in your job—what the world needs, what you are paid for, and what you are good at—why not focus on infusing more of what you love into your work?

Use more of your strengths and remind yourself of the impact you're making as part of your company, instead of constantly chasing what you love and then having to solve for the other three elements.

I've seen many people leave their jobs to become entrepreneurs or join a different company, only to find themselves in the same situation again. That's because they were running away from something, not running toward something.

When I started Happiness Squad two years ago, I was living the best life you could imagine. At my previous firm, I was absolutely enjoying myself. I had shifted my focus toward work centered around flourishing from within.

So when I decided to leave and dedicate myself to this mission full-time, many people asked me, "Oh my God, you're so courageous to leave a well-paying, seven-figure job where you're doing amazing work part-time, loving your colleagues, and being highly regarded in the organization. Why would you do that? How courageous of you to make this move!"

And I responded, "It's not about courage; it's about my calling." I fundamentally believe we need to reach a billion people with this work and help them flourish. Unless we help a billion people rewire away from the fear and scarcity mindset that currently drives so much of our behavior, we'll continue to make suboptimal decisions for our future.

At the time, my son was 12, and I knew I wanted to make a bigger impact. Even though my life was fantastic and I was making a significant impact in my sphere, I realized that reaching a billion people would be more achievable through my own venture. This new vehicle could serve clients in fundamentally different ways than the traditional models.

That's why I left my job. However, many people leave for different reasons—they aren't running toward something, they're running away from something. If you are searching for meaning, find it where you are. Find meaning in your work, my friends.

How leaders can cultivate purpose and meaning at work

If you're a leader, here are some ideas for you, drawing on the work of Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton.

Job crafting

Job crafting is a powerful tool that can help make work more meaningful for your employees. First, engage in dialogue around what drives your employees. What are they looking for? How can you support them?

You can offer autonomy and flexibility, or support their involvement in causes they care about by providing opportunities to volunteer or through employer matching programs. If they want to learn and grow, consider offering educational support, like paid college tuition.

Companies like Starbucks and Costco do this, and more companies are starting to offer similar benefits. The goal is to support individuals by understanding their needs and aspirations, helping them find meaning in their work and personal growth.

Task crafting and relationship crafting

Next, consider how you can make the work itself more meaningful. This is where task crafting and relationship crafting—two elements of job crafting—come into play. Task crafting involves working with your team to re-architect daily tasks, focusing on infusing more of their strengths into their work. This might mean automating, delegating, or eliminating tasks that drain energy.

If certain draining tasks are unavoidable, schedule them for times when energy levels are naturally lower, rather than first thing in the morning. Task crafting is about maximizing tasks that energize employees and minimizing those that drain them by leveraging their strengths every day.

Speaking of strengths, conducting a StrengthsFinder assessment and sharing the results can be beneficial. Shifting performance management from focusing on gaps and issues to emphasizing strengths can have a significant positive impact.

For example, at McKinsey, about halfway through my 17 years there, we transitioned to a strengths-based development model, and it had a huge impact on the organization.

Cognitive crafting

Now, let's discuss cognitive crafting, the third element of job crafting. This involves helping individuals at all levels of the organization connect with the larger purpose or "why" of the organization—its reason for existing.

It's not just about defining this purpose but also activating it and living it every day, both as individuals and as teams. This work is crucial for creating a sense of shared meaning and purpose.

Even if you're deep within an organization, far removed from the end product or service, it's important to recognize and communicate how your work contributes to a positive impact.

For instance, a financial analyst at a pharmaceutical company might not see the direct link between their work and the production of life-saving drugs.

However, understanding this connection helps bring the bigger picture to life, reminding everyone that they are part of a force for good, whether in pharmaceuticals, food, or any other industry.

Activate purpose in the workplace

Recently, we did some work with a client called Trivium Packaging. I had their president for the European division, Johan, on a podcast with us about four weeks ago, where we discussed engaging their 3,000-plus employees in connecting to their purpose journey as a food packaging company.

They make metal cans and have a beautiful purpose statement: "We contain what matters." This statement reflects how their work is closely tied to improving quality, delivering products safely to customers, doing better for the environment, and taking care of their people.

However, it wasn't just about the purpose statement or how beautifully it was articulated. The real impact came from activating that purpose. We made every employee at all levels think about how they could live out that purpose in their everyday work, which made a massive difference.

If you have a purpose statement, consider dusting it off and running an exercise to activate it within your organization. The exercise we designed for Trivium Packaging required only 3 to 4 hours per person at the senior leadership level. This modest investment can significantly impact productivity, retention, and your ability to attract new talent. It's a straightforward yet effective way to engage your employees.

Another critical element in fostering an organizational "why" is to reexamine your company's values. Have a meaningful conversation about what these values mean and how they inform everyday actions. Encourage employees to connect with these values on a personal level.

At McKinsey, one of the differentiating practices was our approach to values. Every year, every office shuts down for a day to engage in conversations about our values—how they manifest in our interactions, how we serve clients, and how they guide us as our North Star. This day is mandatory, and it's a transformative experience that fosters shared meaning and belonging.

Part of this values day is also dedicated to service within the community and to connecting with each other on a deeper level. It has been one of the most transformative practices that have persisted from the early days of the firm and continue to make it great. I encourage you to consider implementing a similar practice. If you want to know how, I'm happy to help.

There are many ways to infuse more meaning into our individual lives and collectively use that meaning to ignite the passions of our employees, winning their hearts and minds to drive higher impact in the world and be a force for good.

I hope this episode was helpful to you. I'm deeply passionate about this topic. Purpose is the first "P" in our PEARL model of flourishing. If I can help you in any way, whether by directing you to resources, working with you, or connecting you with others who are doing this meaningful work, it would be my pleasure.

Please share this episode with others and let us know how this content resonated with you. Together, let's activate meaning and purpose in the lives of individuals, team leaders, and organizations to truly operate at our fullest potential. Take care and have a great day.