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“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Have you heard this Leadership quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery?  He was a French writer, poet, and pioneering aviator in the early 1900s, and his quotes on leadership really hit the mark. Why?

Because only now is the research starting to reveal just how right de Saint-Exupery was.

Start. With. Why.

By now you may have heard of the famous book by Simon Sinek, “Start with Why”.  In it he explains the importance of not starting with “What”, not starting with “who”, but starting with “Why” we are doing what we are doing.  The overarching reason for us all to be working together is the most important thing that leads to success, profit, and engagement.

Starting with the reason for doing something is also the key to Meaningful Work, and meaningful work has been shown to improve productivity.  After all, how many times have you worked on something – maybe a hobby or a task for a friend – simply because you believed it was important?  While we need money to survive, money is not the main motivating factor when it comes to doing great things in our work.

Research on Meaning

One study from Wharton University also discovered that meaning had a big impact on the quality of work.  Employees in a donation collection call center were allowed to speak with some of the recipients of the donations they collected.  Doing that, they could see the real difference it made to people’s lives.  After hearing the impact their work had, and using those stories, donations collected by those employees tripled.

They didn’t whip their employees (the classic “stick”) or pay them hefty bonuses (the often used “carrot”).  They taught them the meaning behind what they were doing – they taught them to yearn.

Researchers Jaqueline and Milton Mayfield also found the power of meaning in their research on what kind of pep-talks gave rise to action.  After clarity or certainty evoking language (the path of what must be done), meaning-making language gave the biggest impact to motivation and results.

Bringing meaning to your work is something that can be done for free.  It doesn’t cost a cent to do, all you have to do is be willing to do the thinking up-front with your team, write down your “why” and the reasons your work is important, see the benefits your work brings, and agree to it as a team.

– David McLachlan

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