By Shelley Garside

Have you ever had colleagues who express a graceful sense of ease and flow in their work—those folks who seem to just effortlessly achieve their targets day after day and month after month?

Have You Ever Met…?
Have you ever met one of those notable CEOs or team leaders who stand up in front of hundreds or even thousands of employees, and have every one of them excited and cheering, almost unable to wait for the next assignment? Have you ever known of an organization where everyone wanted to work because they were believed to exciting, collaborative and motivating to work for?

People are simply drawn to work for such organizations, while others will study these “star” organizations and attempt to replicate their ability to attract and retain a high achieving and productive workforce.

In his latest book, The Purpose Effect: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role, and Your Organization, Dan Pontefract takes us on the journey of determining the “whys” of how individuals, teams, and organizations either succeed or ultimately fail to thrive or flourish. He argues that purpose is the driver of the ultimate alignment between individuals, teams and organizations. Further, he says that it is this alignment between individuals, organizations and role that forms what he terms the “sweet spot” which then creates the environment for the “Purpose Effect” to manifest.

So What is the Purpose Effect?
According to Pontefract, there is a positive and reciprocal connection between three distinct categories of purpose: personal, organizational, and role. He goes on to postulate that if all three categories of purpose can come together in a positive way, the benefits will be felt by employees, teams, the organization, customers, owners, and society as a whole.

Three Streams of Purpose
Pontefract explains that personal purpose is achieved when individuals “develop, design and decide“ their purpose in life. This is a continuous process which leads an individual to his or her own sweet spot (and is a necessary element for the total purpose effect).

Organizational purpose, according to the author, can be achieved by implementation of what he terms the “Good DEEDS” concept. To achieve this, an organization must balance the focus on profit with an outward or stakeholder focus (including its employees), in addition to adhering to ethical standards, and community/societal contributions.

Finally, role purpose is broken down into what is termed job mindset, career mindset or purpose mindset. Ultimately, for the “sweet spot” to be found, the individual or personal purpose must align with the purpose of the organization.

Altruism Serves Greater Purpose
Pontefract makes some compelling and passionate arguments that support the notion of a somewhat altruistic approach to organizational success. This in itself is refreshing. If there any negative comments to be made about Pontefract’s latest book, it would be that there is some opportunity to clean up a few editing oversights.
Some readers may also find it surprising that the author chose to quote Charles Koch as being an organization of high moral standards, focused on benefiting society, given the countless articles and documentaries published admonishing the Koch brothers and Koch Industries. Pontefract himself claims that “green-washing” is not an authentic or acceptable practice, and will not ultimately lead to the Purpose Effect.

That aside, throughout the book, the author provides multiple examples to support his work and theories. This makes the book both interesting and salient to the reader. In fact, it is the rich storytelling of the book that makes it both readable and real, while offering sparks of insight and hope to those who will be brave enough to tackle the achievement of their very own “sweet spot” in life.

Shelley Garside, CHRP is the owner of Garside Consulting, offering HR Solutions, Coaching and Mentoring to organizations and individuals who are ready to live and lead from a heart-centred place and move toward authentic living practices. Contact: shelley@garside.ca