Fulfillment at Work [leadership]

If you employ people, regardless of the size of your organization (even babysitters count!), are a chair of a non-profit board or if you coordinate volunteers-in short, if you play any role in which you depend on people, then you will want to read The Three Signs of A Miserable Job. This is Patrick Lencioni's sixth book and it is both simple and profound.

The core idea can be stated in two sentences: When people feel fulfilled at work, they are more productive and reliable. Fulfillment is a consequence of being known, knowing who and how you impact the lives of others in your work and having clear ways of measuring your impact. While these ideas are simple, many of us struggle with putting them into practice. This is often a large area of focus with my coaching clients-their own fulfillment and the fulfillment of their team.

If you read my Core beliefs you will know that this paragraph from the end of the book truly resonated as well:

"By helping people find fulfillment in their work, and helping them succeed in whatever they are doing, a manager can have a profound impact on the emotional, financial, physical, and spiritual health of workers and their families. They can also create an environment where employees do the same for their peers, giving them a sort of ministry of their own. All of which is nothing short of a gift from God." (p.253)

This book got me thinking about the work of the Arbinger Institute. They have published two books which I might talk about in another edition of PS. They have a powerful approach to helping all of us to look at ourselves more honestly as a pathway to seeing the humanity of our employees and the people with whom we are closely related. I thought I would leave you with a link to an article entitled, The Parenting Pyramid from their website that applies their approach in a very personal context-marriage and parenting.