So, how are abundant organizations created? This is the task of leadership.
Ultimately the crisis of meaning is always a crisis of leadership. We hope to structure for leaders the private conversations and corporate decision-making criteria that shape abundant organizations. Abundance is not only a prerogative for leaders of rich people, smart people, prestigious people, successful people. Meaning is not only in short supply for poor people, mediocre people, struggling people, hurting people. Great leaders recognize the vital importance of abundance and meaning to everyone in their organization. Including themselves.
The Great Place to Work Institute has conducted surveys of the best companies to work for in America since 1980. It now does work in more than 30 countries. Its surveys serve as a confirmation of the impact of The Why of Work on business results. A portfolio consisting of all of the publicly traded companies on the Best Companies to Work For list each year from 1998 to 2008 would have earned an annual return of 6.80 percent, compared to just 1.04 percent over the same period for the Standard & Poor’s 500. Even purchasing stock in companies on the list in 1998 and holding it for the ensuing 10 years would have achieved a return of 4.15 percent, which is also much higher than the comparable indices.
What do these companies do to maintain this outstanding performance? Of course they make money via excellent customer service and many other solid management practices or they would not survive. But in addition these high performers tap into the elusive quality of meaning in a variety of ways. For example, in the last 25 years, five companies have consistently been highly rated: Goldman Sachs, Nordstrom, Publix Super Markets, REI, and W. L. Gore & Associates.2 Goldman leaders build a culture of “smart people working together,” or one of collaboration and synergy. Nordstrom has earned a reputation for exceptional customer service, hiring employees who delight in “anticipating and meeting customer needs.” Publix Super Markets, founded in 1930, also has a strong customer focus, cultivating “servant leaders” who treat “associates” (not “employees”) with respect and who become active in their communities. REI (a recreational equipment cooperative) trains leaders to build cooperation among employees and between employees and customers to accomplish its mission of “inspiring, educating, and outfitting for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.” Gore & Associates leaders encourage employees to pursue innovation by living by a set of guiding principles of “freedom, fairness, commitment, and waterline.” In each of these exceptional companies, leaders endeavor to turn the meaning employees find in their work into sustained organizational abundance. Though each company has a unique take on how to make this connection, all develop leaders who help employees find meaning at work that contributes to organizational success.
The creation of meaning applies to countries as well as companies. Bhutan is a small country located in the Himalaya Mountains in South Asia. Although most countries use the Gross National Product index to measure national success, in 1972 King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan instituted a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index to assess his country’s progress. The king instituted social and economic policies to help Bhutan citizens find meaning and well-being in their lives. The GNH index includes measures of the progress of sustainable development, preservation of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance. Even with low gross domestic product per capita, Bhutan citizens are among the happiest in the world, with over 50 percent of citizens reporting they are “very happy.” Their lifespan is in the top 10 percent of nations worldwide. Bhutan became the world’s newest democracy in 2008 as the king established parliamentary elections, Jigmi Thinley, the first Bhutan prime minister, has said, “material enrichment and consumerist ethics must not lead to spiritual impoverishment. True happiness and well-being lies in sustainable education, health, and living environments which include caring and sharing relationships where extended families serve each other.”
In companies or in countries, leaders have the task of creating a direction for their organizations that is charged with meaning—that resonates with not only the minds and hands but the hearts of those they lead. In this book, we go beyond cases to synthesize and integrate theory, research, and experience from multiple disciplines to propose seven meaning drivers successful leaders have used to shape meaning. An individual leader might be predisposed to focus on one or two elements of an abundant organization, as shown in the preceding examples. We cull these and many other examples to offer leaders a menu of questions and activities to help them create meaning for employees and turn it into sustained organizational abundance.
Ultimately the crisis of meaning is always a crisis of leadership. We hope to structure for leaders the private conversations and corporate decision-making criteria that shape abundant organizations. Abundance is not only a prerogative for leaders of rich people, smart people, prestigious people, successful people. Meaning is not only in short supply for poor people, mediocre people, struggling people, hurting people. Great leaders recognize the vital importance of abundance and meaning to everyone in their organization. Including themselves.
The Great Place to Work Institute has conducted surveys of the best companies to work for in America since 1980. It now does work in more than 30 countries. Its surveys serve as a confirmation of the impact of The Why of Work on business results. A portfolio consisting of all of the publicly traded companies on the Best Companies to Work For list each year from 1998 to 2008 would have earned an annual return of 6.80 percent, compared to just 1.04 percent over the same period for the Standard & Poor’s 500. Even purchasing stock in companies on the list in 1998 and holding it for the ensuing 10 years would have achieved a return of 4.15 percent, which is also much higher than the comparable indices.
What do these companies do to maintain this outstanding performance? Of course they make money via excellent customer service and many other solid management practices or they would not survive. But in addition these high performers tap into the elusive quality of meaning in a variety of ways. For example, in the last 25 years, five companies have consistently been highly rated: Goldman Sachs, Nordstrom, Publix Super Markets, REI, and W. L. Gore & Associates.2 Goldman leaders build a culture of “smart people working together,” or one of collaboration and synergy. Nordstrom has earned a reputation for exceptional customer service, hiring employees who delight in “anticipating and meeting customer needs.” Publix Super Markets, founded in 1930, also has a strong customer focus, cultivating “servant leaders” who treat “associates” (not “employees”) with respect and who become active in their communities. REI (a recreational equipment cooperative) trains leaders to build cooperation among employees and between employees and customers to accomplish its mission of “inspiring, educating, and outfitting for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.” Gore & Associates leaders encourage employees to pursue innovation by living by a set of guiding principles of “freedom, fairness, commitment, and waterline.” In each of these exceptional companies, leaders endeavor to turn the meaning employees find in their work into sustained organizational abundance. Though each company has a unique take on how to make this connection, all develop leaders who help employees find meaning at work that contributes to organizational success.
The creation of meaning applies to countries as well as companies. Bhutan is a small country located in the Himalaya Mountains in South Asia. Although most countries use the Gross National Product index to measure national success, in 1972 King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan instituted a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index to assess his country’s progress. The king instituted social and economic policies to help Bhutan citizens find meaning and well-being in their lives. The GNH index includes measures of the progress of sustainable development, preservation of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance. Even with low gross domestic product per capita, Bhutan citizens are among the happiest in the world, with over 50 percent of citizens reporting they are “very happy.” Their lifespan is in the top 10 percent of nations worldwide. Bhutan became the world’s newest democracy in 2008 as the king established parliamentary elections, Jigmi Thinley, the first Bhutan prime minister, has said, “material enrichment and consumerist ethics must not lead to spiritual impoverishment. True happiness and well-being lies in sustainable education, health, and living environments which include caring and sharing relationships where extended families serve each other.”
In companies or in countries, leaders have the task of creating a direction for their organizations that is charged with meaning—that resonates with not only the minds and hands but the hearts of those they lead. In this book, we go beyond cases to synthesize and integrate theory, research, and experience from multiple disciplines to propose seven meaning drivers successful leaders have used to shape meaning. An individual leader might be predisposed to focus on one or two elements of an abundant organization, as shown in the preceding examples. We cull these and many other examples to offer leaders a menu of questions and activities to help them create meaning for employees and turn it into sustained organizational abundance.
