Organizational capabilities lead to lasting value when leaders promote meaning making as well as money-making. As leaders weave affirming stories, find heroes and causes, embody ethical and trusted values, clarify principles that lend order and rationality to decisions and routines, and make visible the ways employees’ efforts help the company contribute to a greater good, they create organizations that overflow with a sense of meaning and abundance. In the words of former U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”

Pockets of abundance can flourish in virtually any organization. Continue reading » »

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Fortunately, when crises stop us in our tracks they may also make us stop and think, and thinking can be the start of creating meaning at work and elsewhere. Crises can shock us into facing the questions we often sidestep: “Who am I? What am I trying to accomplish? What really makes me happy? What do I believe? What is my purpose? What matters most?” As leaders probe the whys of work, they empower employees to find personal meaning that creates value for customers, investors, and communities. Continue reading » »

In the 2009 recession, many governments bailed out companies with toxic assets. Bailing out sinking ships is a bad analogy for what makes organizations seaworthy, however. Before setting out for open seas, we must not only bail out the water but fix the leaks. Organization leaks occur not only when leaders fail to provide great products and solid returns, but also when they waver on ethical principles, isolate themselves from the consequences of their choices, abdicate responsibilities for strategy and innovation, or drop the ball of timely action. Organization leaks also occur when employees put in their time but don’t invest their hearts, when they abandon creativity or integrity, or when they lose sight of the impact of their work.

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You intuitively know that you and your work team would be more productive, more satisfied, and more creative if work engaged not only your head and your hands but your heart and soul as well. What most of us know intuitively research confirms: when employees find meaning at work, they care enough about it to develop their competence; they work harder and are more productive; they stay longer and are more positive about their work experience. But there is more: when employees are more positive, customers generally respond in kind. Employee attitude is a key lead indicator of customer attitude, and satisfied customers help the businesses they patronize to survive and thrive. Continue reading » »

An abundant organization is a work setting in which individuals coordinate their aspirations and actions to create meaning for themselves, value for stakeholders, and hope for humanity at large. An abundant organization is one that has enough and to spare of the things that matter most: creativity, hope, resilience, determination, resourcefulness, and leadership. Abundant organizations are profitable organizations, but rather than focusing only on assumptions of competition and scarcity, abundant organizations also focus on opportunity and synergy. Rather than accepting the fear-based breakdown of meaning in hard times, abundant organizations concentrate on bringing order, integrity, and purpose out of chaos and disintegration. Rather than restricting themselves to narrow, self-serving agendas, abundant organizations integrate a diversity of human needs, experiences, and timetables.

In good times and in hard times, abundant organizations create meaning for both the employees who comprise them and the customers who keep them in business.

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