Great leaders
regularly bring people closer to their purpose and the purpose of their work.
If the vision for the organization is not inspiring—or is only to make a
profit—it is pretty challenging to inspire others and get them to rally around
it.

Employee
engagement research states that for people to feel a connection with their
work, they need to be able to envision themselves achieving purpose at work. An
astute leader nurtures alignment among their workforce by linking the key
performance indicators of each role in the organization to the overall key
performance indicators and objectives of the business.  When people are able to “connect the dots”
from what they do each day to how it impacts the customer—and maybe even the
world at large—they are much more engaged and concerned for what they do and
how well they deliver it.

Here are some
ways to help people see the big part they play:

• Always connect the mission with the
  numbers. Balance communication about profits or margin with stories about
  the real difference you’re making with customers.
• Company culture is about
  regularly talking about the mission of the organization and connect
  people’s jobs to the mission.
• Have each person write their own
  job purpose, not just from a function perspective, but from their
  relationship with the client/customer. Write out your own as a leader too!
• Keep supporting people to see the
  line of sight between their job and what really matters. Keep connecting
  the dots. How does what they do really matter.
• Make sure every meeting highlights
  some way your people have really made a difference in the lives of real
  people–EVERY MEETING