The Purpose-Driven Job

In the February 7, 2005, edition of Time magazine, it was noted that The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren, has been the best-selling hardcover book in history. In his book, Warren proposes, “without God, life has no purpose; and without purpose life has no meaning; and without meaning, life has no significance or hope.”

Interestingly, a number of major research studies point to a similar philosophy in the workplace. Research done by The Gallup Organization, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, and the Corporate Leadership Council, suggest this: Without a mission, work has no purpose, and without a purpose, work has no meaning; and without meaning, work has no significance.

If we want to have meaningful work (and I assume most of us do), then we must link what we do every day at work to the mission of the company.

Whether we work outdoors, in a manufacturing facility, or an office cubiclewhatever our jobwe should be able to connect that job to our company’s mission.

According to research by the Gallup Organization, only 26% of employees have found purpose in their work. These are the ones who are engaged in their jobs. They have made the connection to the company’s mission. They see the big picture. On the other end of the spectrum, about 19% are actively disengaged. They’re called “CAVE” people because they are Consistently Against Virtually Everything. About 55% of employees are somewhere in between. They are neither engaged in their work, nor disengaged. They just show up, and are usually bored most of the time.

The good news is that the choice is ours. We can choose to be a “cave dweller,” or we can choose to find a purpose in our job. In the real world, most of us can’t do what we like, but we can like what we do. And with a purpose-driven job, the chances are good that we will like what we do.