Allowing Humans to be Human with Mark LeBusque
Higher Purpose Podcast
Joining us for another session on what it means to live, love, work, and lead in a humans first kind of way is Mark LeBusque. He describes his work as allowing humans to be human, whether that’s in the workplace, outside of the workplace, or in their communities. We talk about the magic that happens when you allow humans to get back to connecting, and why we need to be human beings before we can become human doings.
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Everybody Matters with Bob Chapman
Higher Purpose Podcast
Adding to this series of conversations we’re having about what it means to approach business from a people first focus is today’s episode with Bob Chapman. Bob is the author of Everybody Matters, and today we’re talking about creating work cultures where people flourish, how that impacts our lives outside of work, and what it means to care about and be a steward for your organization.
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The 7 Laws of Employee Loyalty with Heather Younger
Higher Purpose Podcast
With more and more people switching jobs every few years, how can you as a leader cultivate loyalty in a humans first kind of way? Join us on this episode with Heather Younger, the host of the podcast Leadership with Heart, the author of The 7 Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty, and, in her words, an employee advocate.
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Being a Brave Leader with Kimberly Davis
Higher Purpose Podcast
What does it mean to be a brave leader? This is our 10th installment in our HumansFirst series of heart-to-heart discussions on what it means to live, love, lead, and work in a humans first way. Today we’re joined by Kimberly Davis, the author of Brave Leadership and the Founder and Director of OnStage Leadership, and on this episode she talks about showing up as our best selves, making our impact, and leading from the heart.
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How Leadership is Evolving with Sesil Pir
Higher Purpose Podcast
Is there a magic pill to make your team and organization work? Welcome to another installment in what it means to live, love, lead, and work in a humans first way. Today we have Sesil Pir, an organizational psychologist and a leading researcher on workplaces and workplace culture. She’s here to share her keen insights on the future of work and human resources, and why we need to challenge the status quo of work to suit the way we’re built as human beings.
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Finding Real Happiness at Work with Brooke Erol
Higher Purpose Podcast
There’s job satisfaction, and then there’s the real happiness that comes from working at a company whose purpose aligns with yours AND where your job has meaning. We continue our HumansFirst series with Brooke Erol, the founder of Purposeful Business, and she shares how we can become more engaged at work, so we can become more engaged in life.
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The 7 Simple Superpowers of the HumansFirst Heroes
Higher Purpose Podcast
Today, we’re talking superpowers. We’re midstream in a series of conversations on what it means to live, love, and lead in a HumansFirst kind of way, and for this special solo episode, I want to talk to you about some important simple skills. Now, don’t confuse simple for easy. These skills require us to put someone else ahead of ourselves, which is difficult and doesn’t come naturally to many of us. I call them: The 7 Simple Superpowers of the HumansFirst Heroes.
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Being a Chief Heart Officer with Claude Silver
Higher Purpose Podcast
What is it like to mentor almost 800 people? Claude Silver is the Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia, a global digital advertising agency. She was previously the company’s Senior Vice President, and was handpicked for the role three years ago by the CEO himself, Gary Vaynerchuk. Today on the show she’s talking about the immense ability we have to touch people’s lives, even in the smallest of ways.
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The Future of Work with Dr. Heather Hanson Wickman
Higher Purpose Podcast
What does the future of work look like? According to our guest, the future of work is ‘Love in Action.’ Heather Hanson Wickman is the co-founder of Untethered Consulting and the author of “The Evolved Executive,” and today we’re talking about what it means to lead with love, not fear. Heather shares that her purpose is to awaken the souls of leaders to create soulful organizations. So how can we do that?
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Making Work More Human with Renée Smith
Higher Purpose Podcast
What does it look like when we make work more human? Renée Smith serves as the Director of Workplace Transformation for Washington State as part of the Governor’s Results Washington Office. She leads the ‘Make Work More Human’ project, and she’s here to answer the question: “What’s love got to do with it?”
info_outlineI want to invite you to a different kind of episode today: a thinking-out-loud session on seeing the world differently when looking at it through the lens of purpose. Please join the conversation! I'll share more about how you can provide your feedback at the end of this episode.
One of my favorite quotes is from Anaïs Nin: “We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.” So I’m inviting you to look at life, the world, and your journey through the lens of purpose.
What looks different through the lens of purpose?
Time
It’s easy to see life as a blurred series of events. Many of our moments are similar. But at the same time, each moment is unique.
Through the lens of purpose, you realize that there may be something incredibly unique about this moment, and you may cross paths with a person who may desperately need even the smallest act of kindness, a word of encouragement, or even just recognition that they exist and that they matter, right now, in this moment. The lens of purpose allows us to see that now matters, and no kind word or deed is ever wasted.
People
There are no little people: everybody matters.
- Always seek to engage your server (or anyone with a nametag) by name — and watch what happens when you do. That’s an opportunity to elevate and lift others.
- If you’re in a leadership position, give people a seat at the table, especially those who have been excluded from the conversation.
- In creating humans-first workplaces, remember that your boss is human, too.
Purpose helps us recognize that all people have value, and they’re all in need of our love, kindness, and respect.
Work
There are parts of our jobs that are repetitive and mundane at times, but purpose allows you to discover the magnificence in the mundane, the bigger quest to your menial tasks.
Helen Keller said: “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” Love and compassion elevate even the most mundane acts of service.
Leadership
The traditional view of leadership is based on perks, privilege, and power. Now, how does the lens of purpose invite you and me to see leadership differently? It allows us to see leadership as a responsibility to use power: to serve, elevate, and develop others, rather than for self-advancement, self-aggrandizement, or personal enrichment. It allows us to use leadership as a platform for serving.
Success
How do you define success? In many places it’s fame, fortune, travel, and fun. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those, but is that the ultimate definition of success? Or does success give way to significance? Success is all about you, but significance benefits others beyond you.
Mother Teresa gave my friend a plaque with three words: Faithfulness, not success. As a person of faith, I believe I’m called to live a life faithful to the principles and practices Christ taught.
I’m not saying you have to define success the way I do; what I’m suggesting is that you find your own definition of success that’s consistent with your values and priorities. How do you define it?
Failure
I grew up with the understanding that failure was final. It’s not.
Failure is an assessment about an outcome — that’s all it is. It’s feedback about a hypothesis. In fact, we shouldn’t even say you failed. It just didn’t work. And taking the real scientific approach means going ahead trying something else.
Through the lens of purpose, we see that failure is not the flip side of success. It's part of the journey to success.
Adversity and Suffering
When you’re suffering through difficulties and challenges, this is the area where purpose is most potent. It helps us gain a fresh perspective when we believe there is purpose and meaning even in suffering and adversity. There are things we learn by going through difficult seasons of life and enduring trials and difficulties that we don’t learn any other way.
And when you get to the other side of adversity and suffering, you have a degree of moral authority that you didn’t have before. You’re able to comfort others with the comfort you received when you went through something, which allows you to have empathy on a whole other level.
Join the conversation
Would you add to this list? What would you see differently? Join me in the Higher Purpose Community or on Twitter, or you can email me at [email protected] or pick up the phone and call me at (678) 744 5111.
Resources
Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care
Episode #72: Hospitable Leadership and the Discipline of Hope with Terry Smith
Episode #78: Creating a ‘Humans First’ Workplace with Marcel Schwantes
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon)
Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon)
Phone: (678) 744 5111