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Guided by the bison, we recognize we are stewards of our company's soul, our nation's soul and assume the burden of leadership.
Guided by the bison, we acknowledge that diversity is our strength, purpose is a human right and reckoning, repair and redemption is our nation's spiritual path. We congregate at work to serve and empower others, to activate our unique purpose, fulfill our potential, nurture community and achieve our mission. We bring the bison home with us and let it guide our family and civic life. In so doing, we activate the purpose of this nation, repair the damage from our nation's misspent youth and achieve redemption. Without the bison's guidance, the eagle will continue to desecrate all we hold dear. It entrenches political gridlock, hatred, inequality, violence and makes it impossible to respond to our escalating crises (biological, ecological, racial, economic and cultural). Without the bison, the eagle will continue to segregate our communities, siphon wealth into white suburban fortresses and defund our healthcare, education and infrastructure, and imperil our ability to co-lead the world's interdependent economy. To claim our role as leaders in this battle, we have to SOBERLY meet our white supremacist reality as it is, adopt the bison as a SYMBOL of our leadership and nation, unlock the POWER of our unique purpose, understand the STAKES of this battle, re-humanize our organizations with an ethos of communal and holistic CARE, make thorough use of the two most powerful TOOLS in our hands (purpose activation and small, diverse group learning), and deploy the key elements of transformation, while listening and attending to our people's need and the emerging market with AGILITY. A brief summary: SOBRIETY. In Chapter 1, we explored how business is regarded as both good and evil, and that white supremacy is the ongoing result of our collective efforts. Leaders must soberly meet this reality as it is, as well as acknowledge the enormous power of business and our responsibility to steward it toward the collective good and national reckoning, repair, redemption and renewal. SYMBOL. In Chapter 2, we confronted the sad truth that our nation's soul is gasping for breath. The hyperindividualism of the eagle is dividing and killing us faster by the day. A new symbol must now guide us as leaders and as a nation into the next chapter of our shared story - the bison. POWER. In Chapter 3, we learned that your legacy is the keystone to your future, your company's future and the future of our nation. It has to be seen, felt and believed in order for anything else to shift. STAKES. In Chapter 4, we faced the consequences of failing to activate the bison, and leaving our culture to the eagles - the continued dissolution of our democratic institutions, fraying of the social fabric and moral good, climate change, the decline of our relevance on the world stage and the desecration of all we hold sacred. CARE. In Chapter 5, we explored a rehumanized vision of every business unit and every people function. TOOLS. In Chapter 6, we examined purpose and belonging as the foundational bison capacities to activate, and purpose activation in small diverse learning groups as the primarily methodology. If we have any chance of breaking free of the eagle and responding to our formidable crises, it will be through the powerful combination of purpose and belonging. AGILITY. In Chapter 7, we explored a few key elements to evolve our organization, consecrate our purpose, and meet the needs of our people and the emerging world. We learned we cannot afford to analyze, debate and wait - we're not smart enough to figure it all out in advance. We must move. Now. Only business can save the nation. We have the tools, principles and a good enough plan to take the next step: Work with your CHRO and/or CLO to activate purpose and belonging for your whole company using small, diverse peer learning groups. But most importantly, do not wait. "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank, 1944 Move. Now. Everything we hold sacred depends upon it. The world is watching. Hoping. Waiting. Praying.
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“You’re playing right?” said Miles, the captain of the Columbia Business School rugby team.
“Huh? Na man, I’m just here to watch. Geno invited me,” I responded. “Well, mate,” he said in his British accent, “We need you, we’re short men. Have you played before?” “Nope. I’ve literally never even seen a game. I’m just here to watch. I would be of no use to you.” “We need you. We’re short men.” After a long pause, “Ok. What do I need to know? Do you have extra gear? I’m gonna need some Gatorade. I think I’m still drunk from last night.” “I’ll find you gear. Grab Gatorade across the street. Geno will explain the rest in the cab.” … “We need you,” is a powerful phrase. It awakened something in me. It feels good to be needed. It feels even better to say “yes” to meet that need. You are needed. Your people are suffering. Your planet is burning. Your democracy is crumbling. You are needed to march into the unknown future with your skills, networks and capital in your right hand and deepest heartbreak in your left. You are being asked to say “yes” to bringing forth all you have within you to co-create the future and lead. In that cab ride from Harlem to the pitch on Roosevelt Island, Geno explained the game as best he could. Unfortunately, I was hungover, out of shape, and started cramping up during warm ups. However, by the time the opening whistle blew, a switch turned on. I crashed the first ruck, popped up, crashed the next one, and so on. In those first 10 minutes, I was in about every play, in a flow state, where my sense of self and identity fell away and there was only the game. It brought me back to playing schoolyard tackle football. Just the endless joy of play. Bodies crashing, full exertion - pure and simple fun. I caught the bug, and the rest, as they say, is history. I joined the team, earned a starting position, took a leadership role, and fell in love with the sport and the culture. I loved my teammates, the practices, the matches, the road trips, tournaments, the drinking songs, wild nights, fights and arrests. I loved the sense of unity, of coming together with teammates from all corners, from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe, around our shared purpose - victory and a good time. This made the intense training and the injuries of the sport feel important, sacred even. There is a special joy sharing a bottle of Jim Beam in an E.R. after a hard match. Or when I'd pull my stitches, it was usually came with some fond memory of the match or my mates. In my second year of business school, my friend, Gaby, and I started and coached the women’s rugby club to share our love of the sport and culture with all our classmates. It won’t surprise you to hear that most of my best friends from grad school, including the best man at my wedding, were rugby teammates. Like rugby, there are elements and best practices for culture change, two of which we explored in depth the last chapter. And like any adventure, there is emergence, dynamism, joy and deep fulfillment that you don’t get to experience unless you say "yes" to the mystery and put one foot in front of the other. When I said “yes” and got in that cab, the die was cast, even though I had only a rough outline of what I was saying yes to. I learned the elements of the sport of course, but the series of events, the joy, the creativity, the connections, the sense of belonging and mattering and the ways I was able to lead, contribute and be contributed to after saying "yes", no one could have predicted. As such, if you expect that activating a purposeful organization is going to follow some checkbox pathway to a hockey stick chart, you’re in for a rude awakening. Our cosmos is dynamic, relational, omni-centric, emergent and co-creative. Eagle leadership is anything but - it’s linear in its thinking, contractual in practice and exploitative in impact. Bison leadership is responsive; it meets the dynamism, interconnection and emergence as it is and with common cause and agility. Moreover, every organization in every industry and size/maturity is different, so there is no one-size fits all approaches to culture. Like everything else that matters in your life - marriage, family, faith -, saying "yes" to this adventure means paying attention to what is needed now and responding with both care and courage. When you say "yes", the future you step into will demand much more of you than you are currently capable of fulfilling, and it will be far more rewarding than your current self is capable of envisioning. The reason for this is that by definition, a purpose-driven organization is unknowable until the purpose of each person in your organization comes alive and arises newly, moment by moment. This is a profound shift from from the eagle's top-down expertise and knowledge to the bison's bottom-up purpose and agility. As Carlos Rey PhD, Jon San Cristobal Velasco PhD and Juan Almandoz PhD assert in Purpose-driven Organizations (2019), “...the fulfillment of personal purpose within the organizational purpose is the essence of truly purpose-driven organization… Strategy is based no longer on accurate predictions of the future, but on developing dynamic skills and capabilities that allow individuals and organizations to adapt rapidly. In this changing and uncertain world, employees no longer find solace in top-down definitions of organizational purpose… The new logic of purpose requires people to lead the evolutionary process of their own purpose at work.” As you are transformed by your purpose, your people are also transformed and turning on. You’re flipping switches in unique human hearts. You’re weaving the social fabric of your company. You are activating oblique and emergent logic, whereby the organization’s purpose and individuals’ purposes interact and innovate to meet and co-create the future. As the founder of Bimbo Bakeries aptly observed, “...the company has a soul made up of the souls of each of its workers.” You are unique as is everyone else who will discover and activate their purpose in your organization. Once activated, they will bring their fullness to work, their emotions, creativity, ethics, pain, dreams and wounds, and in so doing, they will change you, your organization and your future. Your people will be empowered to voice their dissenting opinions, wild ideas and speak truth to power, so you are in effect licensing your employees to cause “good trouble” as John Lewis might say. This means on occasion, you will be called on your shit. Because they will be empowered by having activated their purpose and values in their small, diverse groups, and because you’ve shown them your vulnerability and heartbreak, and are inviting them to bring it, they will. They will reveal weaknesses in your strategy, ethics and leadership. Because they are turned on, they will be able to tell when you are not being authentic. You won’t be able to fake it anymore. You’re saying "yes" to authenticity and courage, to becoming fully alive, on purpose, warts and all. You're saying "yes" to the emergent possibilities of human creativity, and the burning away of everything in your life and organization that is unaligned with your purpose, our bison nature and the emerging realities of the market. You’re going to make mistakes and maybe even cause or reveal a scandal. You’ll learn from them, clean them up and try it again with new knowledge. As beautiful as our Constitution is, it was not complete when it was written. It needed amendments. Plenty of them. So will you. You will never be done with activating the purpose of your people and organization. When you die or retire, there will be a long list of things that you wish you got to do. It’s important to accept the the implicit incompleteness of the journey, so that you can just be here right now and create the conditions for everyone to play the game. However, you will be fed by the progress along the way, the thrill of the game, the big wins and small. When roles fill quickly from employee referrals, and people turn down bigger compensation packages to join your organization, your spine will tingle, you’ll grin and give thanks. When journalists start asking you about how you did it, you’ll giggle and say, “Me? Yah, right... Us and some luck.” So what is your next step? Although this book is not a how-to manual, it's still important to have a rough outline of the important elements of the new reality we're in, so we can take good guesses about what to do, how to do it and when. Your actual plan of action will depend on your unique organization and those you call in to help guide the process. Let's explore a handful of key elements to consider, as you dream your purposeful organization into the present. #1 Purpose to the People Purpose is a human right. It is the key to a life of fulfillment, vitality, connection, innovation and prosperity. Everyone has a right to discover and activate it. It’s the foundation of authentic individual and organizational transformation, and you now have the power to enable it at scale. It’s important to begin this with your executive leadership team (ELT) and front-line managers. Then everyone else. Then weave purpose and values reflection into onboarding and every DEI, L&D, wellness and culture initiative. But what if someone’s purpose cannot be fulfilled in any way at your company? This does happen. In my experience, it occurs about 5% of the time, however the net effect of activating purpose is an average increase in tenure of 7.4 months (BetterUp, 2019). Some folks will turn on and then won’t see any opportunity to fulfill their purpose in their current company / role. So, you are going to lose a few good people, but these good people will have you to thank for their lives and fulfilled purpose at their new job and company. #2 Golden Gate Bridge As we've explored, people learn best together in small, diverse, peer learning groups, over time and in the flow of work. And they also need “big tent” events to invite them on the journey, to celebrate their achievements and to establish a collective sense that something new just happened among all of us. Picture the Golden Gate Bridge with it’s two tall towers that support the whole bridge. Think of the bridge as a chronological line from shore to shore, with the pre-program and group matching surveys before the first tower. The first tower is a "big tent" event to introduce the program objectives, guides / facilitators, logistics, meet their small groups and get their questions answered. Think of the 5 small group sessions being stretched between the two towers. The second tower/ big event is to recap the program, celebrate the wins, distribute certificates, and enroll folks in their next learning journey. The post-program survey is then distributed after the second tower / big event. #3 Inclusive culture = digitally native culture Most organizations are in metropolitan areas where housing is frequently expensive, making convening in the office a physical barrier between the wealthy (and largely white), who can afford to live closer to the office and the poor (and largely BIPOC) who cannot and must either work remotely or commute a great distance, which negatively impacts their social and emotional health and family life, and reinforces existing inequities. In an ideal world, there would be abundant affordable housing within biking distance and folks could convene safely and easily. Until that is the case, to develop culture inclusively, your approach to culture must be digitally native, such that wherever folks are, they can participate and contribute on a level playing field, e.g., a Zoom room, vs. a live training on-site. This also breaks down silos between functions and teams spread across multiple locations. #4 Company as community and mission A job is no longer a contract to perform a faceless task at a soulless company. Rather it is both a mission and a contract. It is about activating one’s personal purpose and values and joining a community in service of a greater mission AND a contract for a healthy salary and benefits that improves the financial, physical, emotional, and social health of all parties. However, a community cannot form without a mission - the company’s promise to deliver its desired impact, live its values and be guided by its origin story - so these need to be developed, embodied, and communicated. Only then can a community be considered to be properly consecrated. It is also important to renew the mission periodically. Use each all-hands / gathering as an opportunity to renew the mission. For example, exalt the impact of the company’s work on customers and society, highlighting the commitment, community and contribution that made it possible. Distribute the facilitation of these events among diverse people at all levels, so folks feel they are all continually co-creating the mission. Instead of announcing promotions via email, induct the person via a public ceremony, by exalting how they exhibit the company’s values and their own purpose and passions. Invite others to share how this person has impacted them personally or made a difference for customers or the community. To engender a sense of collaboration and shared success in this new role, have them vulnerably share their purpose, areas for growth and the help they will need to be successful. Occasionally, you'll find yourself in the proverbial ER with your mates and a bottle of Beam, e.g., a business downturn, loss of key talent, scandal or some external political, economic and/or environmental malady beyond your control. Use this as an opportunity to renew and be guided by the mission and values. Turn to them and ask for guidance on how to shepherd the company/community. For example, instead of announcing layoffs, sending the message that certain people are expendable, communicate that we're all going to make it through this and the company is temporarily cutting all salaries by 90% over the living wage, e.g., $70k/yr in 2021. #5 Purposeful Leadership + Management In this sense, everyone in leadership is now also steward of the company's mission and values, whose job responsibilities include contextualizing work in terms of the company’s mission, values and origin story, attending to the purpose and career development of everyone on their team and empowering authentic connection among them. This means we model our own purpose and find our unique expression of the company’s values. This means contextualizing priorities, initiatives and individual contributions in terms of the mission and the impact on customers and society. This means we activate everyone's purpose at work, and co-create a purpose-led professional development plan with each team member. It means holding folks accountable to their purpose and career path. It means we tell stories and encourage others to tell stories about our challenges and successes. It means exalting the accomplishments of teams, and on occasion, nurturing good-natured competition between teams, in service of the shared mission. This means we take on the role of hosting, where we ensure everyone gets what they need to flourish. We attend to the betweenness of things, nurturing connections between people, developing relationships between in-groups and out-groups, and empowering and sponsoring diverse candidates. This is the work that creates wide bridges throughout the company, dissolving bottlenecks, building trust, improving information transfer, breaking down silos, and empowering innovation. This also means new administration. Do not pile the culture priority onto someone who has an existing role and responsibilities. Hire at least 1 new person whose only goal is to support culture, ensuring that all culture change work is substantial and sustained, led by members that represent at least 7% of the employees (McKinsey, 2021) and impacting at minimum 25% of each business unit and/or function (Centola, 2020), and developed over the course of many years. It means tying roughly half of the ELT’s performance and compensation goals to the health of the community, e.g., engagement, fulfillment, intention to leave, social and emotional health, and DEI hiring and promotion goals. It means administering the table stakes - CSR reports, transparent compensation and promotion policies, paying living wages (>4x rent/mortgage, <30 minute commute), empowering flex schedules, mental health services, 3+ months of required parental leave for all parents, and designing collaboration-rich spaces and experiences for folks to enjoy spontaneous connection. Once the table stakes are in place, the organization can be considered reasonably aligned. Of course the process of developing people and culture is never done, however, at some point, it is incumbent for organizations to address the broader culture, environment and society by leveraging its brand and buying power to shift the nation towards reckoning, repair, reconciliation, redemption and renewal. This can take the form of regularly and wisely speaking out on matters of public concern, such as reparations for the descendants of the formerly enslaved, criminal justice reform, repatriation of federal lands back to the First Nation's people, regenerative state and federal climate policy, renewable energy, affordable housing, universal healthcare, sustainable transit infrastructure (bike lanes, mass transit, etc.) and ensure the UN'S 30 Universal Human Rights (UN, 2021) are guaranteed. #6 Triage from the Heart In every culture there are acute issues, such as missed DEI targets, low retention, pay inequity, low engagement, political polarization, parents not returning from parental leave, AND systemic / cultural issues, such as systemic racism, sexism, workism, hyperindividualism, homophobia, erosion of trust, lack of transparency, and poorly developed power skills, e.g., critical thinking, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, purposeful leadership, etc. Systemic issues cause acute issues. And sometimes they collide and overlap in a perfect storm resulting in collective trauma and/or scandal. Collective trauma is the emotional, psychological and cultural response to the immediate loss of something we hold sacred, e.g., 9/11, George Floyd’s murder, the January 6th Insurrection, a disgruntled employee shoots up the office. Scandal is when acute and/or systemic issues are revealed publicly, such as a sexual harassment suit, corruption, BIPOC employees file a discrimination suit, customers are harmed and file suit, etc. Each of these needs to be addressed uniquely and simultaneously, versus sequentially.
So where do you begin? Which of these elements is most important for you right now? That depends on your size, industry, maturity, etc., but frankly these matter far less than the approach you take to begin the conversation. If you aren’t in the middle of a scandal, and are intent on becoming a purpose-driven organization, I invite you to be transparent and humble in your approach, trusting that the hearts, minds and souls of your people will rise to meet each challenge ahead. Your approach could follow this progression of stages: Stage #1: Humbly make the invitation Tell people your vision for becoming a new kind of company, one driven by an inspiring purpose, where our social, economic and environmental impact is quantifiable, where power and wealth are more equitably distributed, where culture is deliberately crafted, where work is fun, where each of us fulfills our potential, where learning is social and ongoing, AND that you have no idea what this looks like. But it begins with each of us coming to work with our individual purpose and values, sharing our wild ideas and dissenting opinions. It begins with activating our purposes together, building deeper relationships and then collectively asking who we are for the world. It’s going to be a long journey with no known destination, and we’re going to need all your wild ideas and dissenting opinions. It will be messy and we’ll make mistakes and may even reveal a scandal or two, but we’ll learn from them, do it better tomorrow and celebrate the transformation. If you’re in for the adventure, join us. We’re going to begin a process as a whole company to activate our individual purposes and bring them to work. If this doesn’t sound fun, we will be sad to lose you, but we’ll help you find your next job. Stage #2: Administer Then hire your culture lead and activate purpose in small, diverse groups, beginning with the ELT, then the front-line managers, then everyone else. Next weave purpose and values activation into existing onboarding, leadership development, DEI, wellness and culture programs. Equip them with the power and resources to deliver the table stakes. Stage #3: Co-create and Consecrate the Organization’s Mission + Values After the ELT has developed a connection to their individual purpose and values, hire a facilitator to convene the ELT to either refresh the company’s mission, values and origin story or generate a “shitty first draft”. Begin the conversation with questions such as:
Then share out the ELT’s aggregated answers to these questions with the whole company and invite feedback. Then review the ELT's answers and employee feedback and formulate a draft of the mission and values that will guide the company over the next 2-3 years, after which it will again be revisited and re-imagined. Lastly, consecrate the mission and values. This means dedicating the company to the mission and values in feel, form, function and shape. How you consecrate them depends on your answers to these questions:
Stage #4: Empower Teams to Align Key Business Processes with the Mission and Values Look at each business line and function and ask the leaders of each to come up with a business and culture vision for how they could be re-imagined with the mission and values at hand, as well as keeping in mind market trends. To build community buy-in and shared success, review these business unit and functional visions at an all-hands meeting. Invite employees to share their dissenting opinions and the synergies they see. Share out the aggregated feedback and empower each business line and functional leader to incorporate the feedback and revise their team vision. Business unit and functional leaders then develop a 2-3 year plan to implement the revised mission and values, with quarterly updates that measure progress and integrate team and customer feedback and emerging market realities. Align the team’s performance and compensation with the plan, AND ensure that culture development metrics are given equal weight to business strategy. When in doubt, trust people and empower them to take risks. Have faith that people’s purpose and values will rise to meet the challenges and uncertainties. The Garden of Emergence However, what you actually do next (vs. the aforementioned progression) depends on your listening, your tending and intuiting. As a leader, it’s helpful to think of yourself as a gardener of a diverse ecology. Leaders are gardeners who tend a space where every person can discover and activate their purpose on the job. In addition to staking off the perimeter of our garden and watering, we pay attention to how each plant is responding to the other plants and the environment. Do they need more or less sun? More or less water? Are they avoidant of dissimilar plants? Or do they flourish best together like the three sisters (corn, squash and beans)? Most importantly, as every master gardener knows, you’re not raising plants, so much as you are cultivating soil. Soil… Soul... Humus… Human… Cultivate... Culture… Habitat… Habits... You are paying attention to the soulfulness present in professional relationships. Are your people vulnerable? Caring? Innovative? Do they get excited? Are they sharing dissenting opinions? Are they sharing about their families and struggles? Are they growing? What is the feeling, the sentiment, the unseen and unspoken, the betweenness of the life and work of your people? Are they bringing their whole selves to work? Are they enthusiastically contributing to the culture? Do they claim the company’s mission as their own and innovate on its behalf? Is there a palpable sense of aliveness? Or are they just showing up, playing kiss-ass/CYA until the next opportunity comes along? For example, if diverse folks aren’t being promoted or people aren’t returning from parental leave, guess what? You could have sexist, racist, ageist, ableist and heteronormative biases poisoning the soil. If you grow healthy soil, and pay attention to the needs of each plant, they will flourish. Cultivate belonging and purpose. Consecrate the mission and values. Celebrate soul, empathy, creativity, courage and vulnerability. Give each person what they need to thrive. When you do, you will have created a place where everyone belongs, is cared for, and feels fulfilled. Imagine what kind of partner and parent your people will we be after 8 hours of belonging, creativity and fulfillment. Imagine how they will communicate with their loved ones while preparing for work in the morning. Imagine how they will show up with their extended family and in their community. Imagine yourself responsible for having begun the process, for listening to your people, activating their purpose and making your organization a place where everyone can flourish and rise to the levels historically only available to workaholic white men. Imagine facing uncomfortable truths about yourself and your leadership. Imagine learning from these truths, growing and transforming into a more full version of yourself, alive and on purpose as a leader. Imagine a country where this was the new normal, where hundreds of thousands of leaders like you joined together to activate purpose and belonging at scale. Imagine that we're successful and purpose and belonging are now givens. What’s now possible? How might our culture shift? How might voting patterns change? How might Congress? Healthcare? Education? Transportation? Community development? Civic engagement? Public safety? Whatever your vision is for this new world, it begins with you and your organization. We cannot wait - people are suffering and dying on our watch. We're not smart enough to figure it all out in advance. We must move. Now. As Robert Fulghum reminded us in his 1986 book of kindergarten wisdom, the most important things in life were taught to us in kindergarten, like listening, sharing our gifts, respecting others' beliefs and needs, telling the truth, asking for consent, taking responsibility for the impacts of our actions, making amends and hugging it out. In this sense, this the journey we're on as leaders, organizations, nations, a species and planet, is a deep remembering. It's basic human stuff. And it doesn't have to be hard. It's relearning who we are, what are our unique gifts to bring to others, how to receive the gifts of others, standing up for what we believe, protecting what is sacred and making things right when they ain't. Our wisdom traditions and people like Brené Brown, George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Friedman, Fred Rogers and Otis Redding remind us of how simple it is to be ourselves. Our how our essential caring, courageous and creative nature is there waiting to be expressed. "...the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship." - Brené Brown “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch, which I've got held up for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” - George Bernard Shaw “We used to work with our hands for many centuries; then we worked with our heads, and now we’re going to have to work with our hearts, because there’s one thing machines cannot, do not, never will have, and that’s a heart. We’re going from hands to heads to hearts.” -Thomas Friedman “The older I get, the more convinced I am that the space between people who are trying their best to understand each other is hallowed ground.” - Fred Rogers "All you got to do is try / Try a little tenderness." - Otis Redding Fortunately, we have more the Mr. Rogers and kindergarten ethics to guide us. There is an emerging set of best practices to activate tenderness, authenticity, understanding, purpose, belonging and respect. Let's explore the research. Research Review “... what employees need is a more personal sense of purpose. When employees believe that their work is personally relevant, there is a 26% increase in the likelihood of the organization to sustain workforce health. Employees also need to feel connected to one another… Highly cohesive teams have a 37% higher likelihood of sustaining workforce health.” (Gartner, 2021) Two studies based on the work and research of my former teams at ion Learning and Imperative, illuminate the foundations of scalable culture change. ion Learning Study Summary (Peele, Asbaty, 2020) 103 people from a large biotechnology company were placed into groups of 3-4 peers, with each group optimized for diversity. They completed a 6 module program where they learned new concepts, reflected on their purpose and values and shared their experiences with each other in 6, 1-hour small group discussions. The results of this approach are that 95% of people complete the programs, 90% can apply the concepts, 85% changed their behaviors, 76% embedded their understanding into daily habits, and participants reported they learned 63% more on average, because of their small group sessions. Further, 98% of people experience respect from their diverse peers and 96% of people experience empathy, 96% discover alternative perspectives to their challenges, and 94% feel comfortable discussing their anxiety and fears that distract them from work with their diverse peers (Peele, Asbaty, 2020). Imperative Study Summary (Hurst, 2021) People were placed in pairs to have 5, 1-hour guided video discussions to reflect on their purpose and share their work and life experiences with each other. This study involved 30,000+ conversations, across 27 functions, 14 industries (professional services, finance, retail, consumer, technology, healthcare, government, education, non-profit, etc.). Before beginning the study, they found that 22% had no meaningful relationships, and that 76% of the participants' desired growth areas were power skills and relationship development (vs. 24% technical skills). They found that after the intervention, participants felt 2.4x more positive, had 2x more friends at work, 78% felt their experience made them more successful, 71% took new actions and 52% took a new action after each conversation. Further, among participants who were unfulfilled prior to the study, 62% reported a significant increase in fulfillment in less than three months. Collectively, these paint a picture of how to develop diverse people, teams and culture: A. put people in small, diverse groups of peers, B. empower them to activate their purpose and values at work and find their expression of the organization's purpose and values, C. and share their experiences with each other in the flow of work, over time and regardless of where they are physically. Let’s now take a closer look at the twin drivers of organizational flourishing - purpose and belonging. Driver #1: Purpose Purpose gives us access to both more of ourselves and more of a connection to others. It is serves us individually, as it is the key to our aliveness, leadership, impact, fulfillment and prosperity, AND serves others, as it expands our identity and concern from self and family to community, company, nation and planet. It makes us more independent and self-reliant and also more connected and compassionate. Over the last few decades, we have come to believe that we have to be one or the other. We must be a bleeding heart, touchy-feely non-profit martyr who is woke to all injustices at all times, or a stone-hearted, hard-nosed, "just the facts" individualist hell-bent on fame and fortune. Purpose is a sacred salve that lets us be both, value both, and celebrate both. When we activate purpose and belonging, we come alive. We know who we are, who we belong to, who we serve and what is ours to do. We have the clarity, confidence and courage to do the hard, right and unpopular things, but with care and compassion. We are connected to ourselves, each other and a future of shared prosperity. We move towards each other, towards discomfort and ambiguity, and find the hidden connections and hallowed ground between us. We lean on, versus lean down on, each other. We uplift each other, welcome one another's wholeness and stand for one another's purpose and greatness, empowering each of us to realize to feel seen, heard and valued and experience “...the true joy in life”. As we explored in Chapter 4, your purpose is the starting point. People need to see and feel your authentic purpose and its connection to the organization’s purpose. An authentic and believable purpose must be on the table before anyone can decide to do anything differently or develop new skills, beliefs and behaviors. It is also necessary for everyone of your employees to have a connection to their own purpose in order to understand themselves as bigger than their personality, gender, and skin color, and to be able to find their own unique connection to the organization's purpose. In a sense, purpose is like a muscle. It has to be developed first individually before it can be apprehended and embodied collectively. Having a connection to one’s own purpose is also the key to seeing new beliefs and behaviors as self-expression versus something outside of us. For example, when we spend just 5 minutes connecting with our purpose, we are 4 times more likely to choose to live in a diverse city, (Burrows, 2014) and experience a 4x reduction in anxiety in diverse environments. (Burrows, 2013). While this is a stark difference, it is not unexpected, as purpose is correlated with numerous prosocial attributes, such as curiosity, compassion, self-reflection and generosity:
The reason for this is that purpose grounds us in our deepest identity which gives us the freedom to accept others for who they are. It is perhaps no surprise that 3 of McKinsey’s 6 aspects of an inclusive culture (Authenticity, Meaningful Work and Camaraderie) are driven by purpose (McKinsey, 2021). In the thousands of purposes generated by participants in programs I’ve led, I have yet to encounter a purpose that isn't generative, inclusive and good-natured. Purpose statements are usually about peace, connection, love, compassion, healing, prosperity, creativity and/or service. There's never anything about being # 1, or hate or division or oppression in a purpose statement. As such, without purpose first being cultivated, DEI initiatives are likely to land as obligatory and shaming for people in the dominant group (e.g., heterosexuals, men, Caucasians). In traditional DEI programs, people encounter their microaggressions, biases and privileges, but are almost guaranteed to feel shame about them, and thus resist transforming them or taking new actions, unless they have solid footing in the self-love, curiosity, grit, humility, self-worth and psychological individuation (FIU, 2014) that purpose provides. Without a grounding in their purpose, they are likely to experience paralysis, inaction, complicity and, as we’ve seen, even increased hostility to inclusion training and/or diverse team members. When people activate their purpose, they are enacting a powerful shift in identity from the socialized self to the authentic self. We rely less on our ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, income bracket, age, religion, and political party to define us, and find a new home for our identity inside of our unique purpose and values. This is critical for everyone to experience, and especially for privileged groups, so that when we embark on DEI work, we see inclusion as self-expression, as an expansion of our truest and highest sense of self and a skill-set to more effectively lead any person or group. Further, when we know our purpose, we recognize on some level that everyone else has a purpose and that they deserve the opportunity to discover it, activate it and bring it to work. I regard purpose as human right - without it we are beholden to our socialized self and the systemic inequities and internalized oppression that formed it. Accordingly, the personal liberation that results from purpose work, becomes an activist stance towards the purpose, self-actualization, prosperity and advancement of others as well. In addition to the catalytic and foundational role purpose plays in DEI initiatives, it is and always has been what people wanted deep down. Increasingly people want work that is personally meaningful, as 99% of people believe that if they cannot be fulfilled in life if they are not fulfilled at work (Imperative, 2019). We want a generative impact on society and/or the environment and to be paid a living wage that allows us to provide for our families and enjoy nature, culture and community. Although this might sound like “Duh. Of course. What kind of sick puppy would not want that?”, until very recently, a sentiment like this was largely regarded as silly, unrealistic, and/or impossible. Millennials and Zenials, who now represent 40% of the workforce, have been derided as entitled babies because they’ve voiced these wants. They are not entitled babies. They are merely better at articulating what they want than the rest of us.  Source: Google Trends (Google Trends. (May, 2019)
For Boomers and Gen X, it used to be that a job was a job, work was a four-letter word, and that we weren’t at work to be happy, but to make money. We used to believe that if we wanted happiness and meaning, we could do that on our own time through hobbies, art, religion, civic engagement or time with family. This has changed, as...
And as we've explored, 99% of people believe work should have purpose and meaning. Unfortunately, only 15% of people believe they can fulfill their purpose in their current roles (McKinsey, 2021). This echoes similar shifts in consumer beliefs, as 9 of every 10 consumers say they would rather buy from a company that leads with purpose (Cone/Porter Novelli, 2018), and 87% of global consumers believe businesses should put at least as much emphasis on social interests as business ones (Edelman, 2017). However, purpose isn’t the only thing needed for culture change. As we explored in the last chapter, every aspect of the way we think about and care for people must change, moving towards connecting people, towards caring for them as connected, whole, unique and sovereign adults, with gifts and passions that are longing to be discovered, acknowledged and activated. Driver #2: Belonging We ache to belong. We are kindergartners and bison, a herd species that is of, by, for and through each other. However, we’ve forgotten our nature and have tricked ourselves into thinking we were eagles. It’s time to come back home to ourselves and our relationships. But what does it actually mean to belong? Belonging is the sense that you matter, that all of you is welcome, and you do not have to leave anything at the door. Alex Pentland, PhD and Oren Lederman, PhD of MIT's Human Dynamics Lab (MIT, 2021) have run dozens of studies on belonging, nonverbal communication and group performance. They discovered that belonging is not about fitting in or conforming, but about mattering and safety. It is the result of a series of behaviors or cues, e.g., energy, turn taking / inclusion, and intergroup communication that signal safety. Digging deeper they found that the most effective belonging cues had 3 qualities:
When these belonging cues occur over time, people feel safe, like they matter, can relax and are excited to learn, grow, connect and do their best work. And of course there is a powerful belonging ROI (BetterUp, 2019):
Belonging & Learning As it turns out, we’re not just wired to connect and belong, but to learn together. Peer learning is how most learning already happens. Research suggests that 80% of us learn as much or more from our peers than authority figures (Imperative, 2019) and as we explored, we learn 63% more from conversations in small, diverse learning cohorts, than we do from consuming information alone (ion Learning, 2020). This is because weak ties, such as those between trainers and learners are good for spreading information only, versus the relationships, experience and reflection necessary to develop habits and build a successful career at a firm. "...immersive, small-group sessions may not sound as sexy as a paid leave of absence to do good in the world, but they are a lot more effective at helping employees start to see the good they can do in their day-to-day work." (McKinsey & Co., 2021) Belonging and behavior change require consistency, network redundancy (Centola, 2021), and strong ties, ties that can be developed via small groups of peers who meet together over time. Belonging & DEI This matters most for new and diverse hires. If diverse candidates build a wide network of diverse peers in their first six months, they are more likely to receive early promotions and enjoy longer tenures (MIT, 2021). Wide peer networks empower employees to develop a broader understanding of the organization and industry and bring a greater depth of knowledge and innovation to problem solving (Burt, 1992), thus making diverse hires more effective at work, able to build trust and receive promotions (MIT, 2021). Conversely, if people aren’t developed equitably and early in their tenure, they are unlikely to stick around to be promoted (LinkedIn, 2018). Correspondingly, organizations suffer, as they can’t harvest the creativity and productivity benefits that diverse workforces foster (Scientific American, 2014). Belonging & Wellness As we explored the last chapter, nurturing belonging through connection, caring and contribution is the key to our social and emotional health (Ford, et al, 2015), driving social integration and increasing our life spans by 7+ years (Journals of Gerontology, 2020). Research from Tom Rath and Jim Hartner confirms that every hour of social time improves your chance of having a good day (Wellbeing, 2010). Further, regular check-ins empower us to complete our stress cycles and avoid burnout (Nagoski & Nagoski, 2020). So how do we ensure everyone feels cared for, invested in and like they belong? We put people in small, diverse groups where they learn about themselves, each other and new skills over time. The Power of Groups Groups enable behavior change through social support (BMC Public Health, 2016), the formation of group norms (Behavior Research and Therapy, 2015), group identity (British Journal of Health Psychology, 2014), and social identities (Journal of Affective Disorders, 2016), and through group feedback and being challenged (Clinical Oncology, 2015). As Nick Craig and Snook observed in the Harvard Business Review, "you can't get a clear picture of yourself without trusted friends acting as mirrors." (HBR, 2014) When small groups are designed in such a manner that we feel safe and can share uncomfortable feelings, we experience fewer feelings of isolation, alienation, blame, and stigma due to past mistakes (Group Dynamics, 2003). As people are engaged in supporting each other, sharing vulnerably, and skillfully challenging each other over time, their beliefs, behaviors, and underlying intuitions expand their sense of group identity and impacts their moral reasoning (Haidt, 2001). Given the power that groups have to shift behavior (for better or worse), we must bring a great deal of care and attention to how we form these groups. The size, composition, duration of groups, as well as how people learn together are critical elements of a successful social learning experience. Group size For every person added to a group, there is a loss of intimacy and a gain in perspective (Soboroff, 2012). Additionally, larger groups (> 6 people) face logistical difficulties in selecting a time to meet there is a loss of conversational depth, as everyone has less time to share their experiences. Conversely, a group of 2 people doesn’t bring the breadth of diversity needed for a rich exchange and the connection, understanding and norms that form between two people aren’t reinforced by a third or fourth person, so the diad runs the risk of being a private matter, as something unique and outside of the broader culture, versus a part of the culture. As such, it is likely the optimal "Goldilocks condition" for a peer learning group's size is 3-6 people. Group composition To create a climate of safety and full expression in the groups, it is important that there are as few power dynamics in a group as possible. This means that each group must be composed of peers at roughly the same level, and without direct reporting relationships. Given the limited size of a group (3-6), when a person is placed in a group, it is important that the perspective they bring is diverse and unique. Research suggests that optimizing groups for diversity, especially in relation to gender (Computers in Human Behavior, 2015) and ethnicity (International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2002), yields better learning and behavioral outcomes. Gordon Allport's 1954 "contact hypothesis", and several decades of subsequent research, reveals that the more contact people have with those who are different, the greater they understand them and feel connected to them (APA, 2001). A meta-analysis of over 500 studies on intergroup contact revealed that interacting with people who have different backgrounds reduces out-group prejudice 94% of the time (APA, 2006). Of particular interest to organizations is that fostering divides across function and geography is also critical as it breaks down silos, enhances institutional knowledge transfer and empowers diverse candidates to build a wide professional network (Organizational Dynamics, 2017). Program Duration and Scope Because people forget 90% of what they learn within 7 days after a one-time training(PLoS One, 2015), it is critical that learning is spaced out over time, so that it can be reinforced, woven into the flow of work, identity, and diverse relationships can develop. Research suggests that the optimal number of sessions for a social learning experience is 5-6 sessions (Hurst, 2021, Peele, Asbaty, 2020). Further, as we’ve explored, to effect a culture change across an entire population, such as an organization, at least 25% of the population must adopt a new belief or practice a new behavior before a broader culture shift begins (Centola, 2021). While the aforementioned research is relatively new, building diverse relationships around a shared purpose has been central to many of our greatest innovations and proudest moments as a nation. From Farm Aid in the 1980's, to the Jigsaw method to racially integrate Texas schools in the 1970's, to the diverse collaboration that put Neil Armstrong on the moon in the 1960's, and our nation's rapid WWII mobilization in the 1940's, we continually come back to the same conclusion: we are better, kinder and stronger together. As long as we discover something new about ourselves and share that with people who are different in a safe container, we experience empathy and trust across differences, and we can achieve the unimaginable. Given the power of purpose and small, diverse peer learning groups, are you ready to unleash the potential of your people and transform your organization? In the next chapter, we'll explore a few more important rules of the game. Chapter 6 Summary:
Chapter 6 Reflection Questions:
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