What is the place of purpose and meaning at work?
The more pragmatic may dismiss such thoughts as far too vague for the world of business. And yet, who has never asked themselves as they go to work on a Monday morning, “Why do I do this?”
For some, it is a simple case of necessity: children to put through university, for example. Yet while we all have a standard of living to maintain, more and more people are using coaching to consider whether their work has meaning for them and, in some cases, making radical changes as a result.
Sir John Whitmore has written that “some employees, especially younger ones… want their work to be of value and have meaning and purpose. Lining the pockets of shareholders is no longer seen as meaningful.”
Writers, such as Danah Zohar, call this “spiritual”; it makes us ask: “Why we are doing what we are doing?”
Sir John believes this need is increasing. He has noticed that “the issue of meaning and purpose is being raised more and more often”. This has certainly been my experience. As part of my MA in coaching with the i-coach academy and Middlesex University, I set out to examine the significance of purpose and meaning in corporate life. Did issues around purpose and meaning come up for discussion in executive coaching sessions? If so, what were the benefits to clients in exploring them? I also wanted to find out what this called for from the coach and how organisations responded to this trend.
I surveyed 25 executive coaches by means of a questionnaire, followed up by interviews with five of the more experienced coaches and five clients. I analysed the questionnaires quantitatively, and transcribed the interviews and examined the text using a number of themes relevant to my research questions.
The results were striking: more than 80 per cent of coaches said that their clients wanted to talk about the purpose of their work or life, and three-quarters said that their clients were “searching for meaning”.
Meaningful encounters
There appear to be clear benefits from this kind of coaching. Every coach said that clients became more motivated; more than 90 per cent said that clients reported increased self confidence and self-awareness, and improved relationships with others.
Business executives increasingly want to feel that they are accomplishing something more than just increasing shareholder value. Many public sector leaders see their work as an expression of their values and ideals. Clearly, these aspirations will affect the bottom line.
Lest anyone doubts the benefits, consider the cost to an organisation of leaders who no longer find meaning in their work. Many of us have had the experience of working for people who have neither enthusiasm nor energy. They spread gloom wherever they go, and targets are only achieved because of the conscientiousness of others.
By contrast, leaders who genuinely believe in their work inspire others and energise those around them. These findings suggest that there can be big returns for the organisation whose executives are working purposefully.
There is a diversity of views around funding this type of coaching. Some firms are nonprescriptive and recognise that hard-working executives who give most of their waking hours to an organisation may need to explore their innermost motivations.
Others want coaching to be ‘focused’ and deal only with specific, measurable goals. The successful 21st century organisations will be those with the flexibility to recognise that their executives have spiritual lives as well as physical lives. Effective leadership development programmes producing sustainable change will allow reflective space for leaders to consider their purpose.
Learning points
Coaches need additional skills and approaches to address deeper issues effectively, such as:
There is no single model or theory suitable for this kind of coaching coaches drew on diverse material, including poetry, myth and art, and literature on life transitions.
- The coach needs to build a deep level of trust with the client Clients were more willing to trust a coach who had been on their own development journey.
- Use language and terms the client is comfortable with Some may choose to talk about ‘spirituality’ but others might reject this terminology.
- Don’t expect too much definition too soon Allow the client the time they need to explore these profound areas of their life.
- Be imaginative in the tools you use Although we live in a ‘verbal’ culture, words have limitations.
- Reflect on your own life experience and purpose If you haven’t, you and your client may feel uncomfortable in a deeper conversation.
- Don’t inadvertently make your client think that they must have a purpose
- Be prepared for far-reaching changes Don’t be surprised if this kind of coaching has an impact on all areas of the client’s life.
Further Reading
John Hannon is a coach and founder of New Projections: www.newprojections.com
See page 32 for a profile of Sir John Whitmore
Whitmore J, Coaching for Performance Nicholas Brealey Publishing (2002)
Zohar, D and Marshall, I, Spiritual Capital Bloomsbury
Case Study 1: Am I doing the right thing?
Michelle was the youngest director (and the only woman) in a leadership team running a £1 billion business. She was very successful, led a sizeable team and had a lot of responsibility. But she began to wonder why she was working for a big company, what was she getting out of it, and how did it . t into her life? She was beginning to feel paralysed by not understanding what she wanted and whether her current position made sense. As she put it, “I like to do things with 110 per cent of myself and I can only do that if I’m sure it’s the right thing to do.”
One of the issues that she worked on with her coach was why she was doing what she was doing and where it was going to take her. Michelle’s coach resisted many of her concerns by asking her, “Why do you need to decide that now? ”One tool he used was to ask her to make a ‘vision poster’ of her future using images cut from magazines. She found this very revealing and it helped her to work out a purpose statement: “which I love and when I get into trouble I keep going back to.”
Michelle realised that her ideas about herself and her future were too fixed. As a result of the coaching she felt liberated from her own rigidity. Her statement allows her to set a more general direction for herself so she no longer tries to make a detailed plan of what she is going to do year by year.
Michelle now feels happy to commit herself to her current job and put all of herself into it because she is clearer about her purpose and her future.
Case Study 2: Reaching a crossroads
David had reached his early 40s and began to wonder what he was going to do for the rest of his working life. He couldn’t see himself working in the same field for another 25 years. He felt he was at a crossroads and wanted to do something different but did not have the necessary selfbelief
to do it.
David’s coach used humour, both to build rapport and to show up selflimiting beliefs. As David put it, his coach “provided a space to explore my fears and anxieties and also look at options for how to do something differently”.
With a combination of powerful questioning and some NLP techniques, he drew David out of his comfort zone. David’s coach also successfully used a lot of intuition and would say things such as, “I’m picking this up. Am I right?” in such a way that David could accept it or reject it.
David’s experience of his coaching was that it was very powerful but in ways that he could not explain. His life changed in many directions but he was not quite sure how it happened.
David subsequently left his employer and set up as a freelance trainer, coach and facilitator. He loves being his own boss and feels that his worklife balance is now much healthier.