Meaning Making Leadership Determinant 1: Purpose

Over the next few weeks I will post the 8 key building blocks of meaning making that all leaders should be familiar with and comfortable employing in their planning and actions. These key elements should be a part of the leader's own character, and what the leader strives to deliver to individuals and the organization as a whole. The first building block is Purpose.

Purpose: Baumeister (1991) states that “a first need is for purpose. People want their lives to have a purpose”. Both humans and lower-based animals demonstrate a goal orientation that may be the primary motivator for purpose. Baumeister suggests that in the context of meaning making, purpose has at least three components: “First, the goal or state is imagined and conceptualized. Second, current behavior options are analyzed and evaluated according to whether they will help bring about this desired goal state. Third, the person makes choices so as to achieve the goal.". It is not as important that goals are necessarily obtained for meaning to be made, but that current actions may lead to potential desired outcomes. In some cases, the more difficult or even impossible the goal, the higher meaning derived in the pursuit of that goal.