What is meaning? And, why should a leader care?

Creating meaning is one of the most important things that a leader does. But what is “meaning”?

The most eloquent definition of meaning come in Viktor Frankel’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankel ties meaning to the internal purpose for which one lives. I use a much less philosophical definition to provide a framework that leaders can use on a daily basis.

From a leadership perspective, there are three ways to create meaning: impact and change, purpose and connection, and sense making.

Impact and change
The primary contribution a leader makes relative to meaning is creating meaningful results. Meaningful results are those that have significant and/or lasting impact. A leader’s primary focus should be on making a meaningful contribution to his or her organization and people.

Purpose and connection
Leaders creates meaningful results is through their people. Unfortunately, studies consistently show that a large percentage of the workforce is under-utilized and un-engaged. Leaders whose people understand the relationship between their work and the organization’s, the customer’s, or society’s success are more engaged. This notion is probably the closest to Frankel’s definition of meaning.

Sense making
Finally, leaders help their people make an impact through sense making. Leaders help people understand what is happening in their environment. Leaders combine data and facts with their own context and perspective to create meaning.

Leading through meaning

The following six questions will help you focus on creating meaning for your people and your organization.

• What is the business outcome I’m trying to achieve?
• What unique contribution do I make as a leader to that outcome?
• How do I create focus, purpose, and meaning for my people in their work?
• How do I help my people navigate the situation going on around them?
• Am I finding the knowledge that is lost in information and do I seek the wisdom that is lost in knowledge? [based on a quote by T. S. Eliot]
• How do I create a culture of people who seek meaning?

Do you have answers for each? Do you consistently make decisions and take actions based on those answers? If so, you are leading through the creation of meaning.

How much strategy is enough?

“Strategy” is one of those words that is loosely bantered about without much precision. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what a strategy is. There is even more confusion around what a strategy does. In working with groups to develop strategy, I’ve learned a few important lessons: 1) strategies that try to answer every question are not strategies (and never get completed), and 2) strategies that answer too few question become pretty posters and Powerpoint slides but do little to drive decision-making and action. A good strategy sets the context in which an organization should operate. A strategy should:

• Set boundaries
• Create focus
• Enable prioritization

The strategy accomplishes this across five dimensions:

• Who the company serves
• What the company provides
• How (at a high level) it is provided
• Where and when it is provided
• To what end (why) the company provides it

Simply arraying the areas of context (boundaries, focus, prioritization) against these five dimensions creates a simple framework for defining a strategy. Such a strategy will drive decision-making and action without actually articulating every decision and action. That allows the organization to remain nimble and responsive to changes in the environment while moving toward a broader goal.

The key is focusing on results or outcomes, not tactics. For example, an organization might have a strategy to focus its resources on mission critical processes. The company might choose to outsource to accomplish this strategy but outsourcing is not the strategy. While subtle, the difference is important.

Good strategies create a framework for decision-making and actions. They allow autonomy and improvisation while keeping the organization moving in the right direction.