Mar 12, 2019
Is there a magic pill to make your team and organization work? Welcome to another installment in what it means to live, love, lead, and work in a humans first way. Today we have Sesil Pir, an organizational psychologist and a leading researcher on workplaces and workplace culture. She’s here to share her keen insights on the future of work and human resources, and why we need to challenge the status quo of work to suit the way we’re built as human beings.
Meaningful work for everyone
We all want to be seen. And in the context of organizations, we also want to be heard, cared about, and recognized for our contributions. We are all seeking a sense of belonging, and any workplace has the potential to be meaningful and to honor our humanity: who we are and what we bring to the table.
Finding out what’s important
People are often motivated by external factors like reward systems, upgrades, or even the opinions of others. But more frequently, people are motivated from within.
Sesil brings up the Self-Determination Theory, a broad framework for human motivation, and distills it into its three essential elements: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. There is a bit of self-interest there, but there’s also a need to be part of something meaningful and bigger than ourselves — and that’s where purpose comes in.
The best way for leaders to discover what’s important to the people in their organization? Ask.
Building an environment that allows people to flourish
Sesil helps organizations build environments of inspiration, meaning, safety, and joy, grounded in the core belief that all humans are worthy of dignity, clarity, well-being, and empathy.
There is no formula or magic pill or blueprint. No two organizations are the same, so the key is to translate or adapt these principles in ways that work best for each specific organization. You have to find what uniquely allows your people to show up and contribute. This must come from the organization itself. Sesil shares that they don’t touch anything as much as possible, they just show leaders the way, help them see things from a different perspective, and let them create.
The evolving workplace
Sesil shares a number of trends she’s observed that’s changing the landscape of the way we work now. Two things she highlights:
The world is changing so fast that 65% of our children entering primary school this year will ultimately end up working in jobs that don’t even exist today. How do we prepare them for that?
Leadership is evolving. The traditional notion of a leader is someone who does something well — but we see leadership now as having little to do with authority on a subject, and more to do with being a guide, putting up a mirror, and serving.
A message for you
Lean in and show up. There is a true contagiousness to our energy, mindset, and behavior. When we come in with a genuine smile on our face, consciously or unconsciously, the whole office will be smiling, too.
Final thoughts
When we say humans first, we are saying that we will always put people as the most critical factor in any decision-making process. Under no circumstances will people be secondary.
Cultural transformation is heavily influenced by design. The only time paradigms start to shift is if there is genuine intent and participation behind it.
Wanting to grow as a HumansFirst leader and connect in meaningful conversations with other HumansFirst leaders?
Join me for the HumansFirst Book Club, where we do a deep dive into a book a month and often engage the authors in conversation.
Resources
Get in touch with Kevin
kevin@higherpurposepodcast.com
(678) 744 5111