Purpose Integration Depends on the Leader

Every human system—individual or collective—is guided on some level, either consciously or not, by a purpose. Purpose-integration, therefore, refers to the quality of integrating that purpose throughout the system it refers to.

I assert that purpose-integration has more to do with the leader, the very top leader, of the system than any other component of that system. This is a bold statement, for it does not distribute responsibility to other leaders or non-human structures within the system. These are also crucial for successful purpose-integration, but they are ultimately at the mercy of the person with the greatest influence and power, the top-leader—the designated caretaker of the system's purpose. Its integrity resides first and foremost within that person. Therefore, the capacity of that person to be a responsible caretaker of the purpose is paramount and (quite literally) at the heart of the system.

In very general terms, there are external considerations such as resources, internal considerations such as structures, and inner-most considerations such as the propensity of a human being (the purpose-driven leader) to think, speak and act in way that brings the purpose into existence.

All three areas—external, internal and inner-most—are required for full purpose-integration. There are experts and professional consultants for each of these three areas and their respective sub-divisions. Although I do not claim to know everything about purpose-integration from the dimension of inner-most alignment, I have developed considerable insight into this area having worked intimately with dozens of visionary leaders over the last eight years.

Like the story of five blind-men describing an elephant based on which isolated part of the elephant they are in contact with, describing purpose-integration from the point of view of the leader will surely be incomplete. Systems, structures, performance management, communication, resources, branding are just a few from a very long list. But I shall address it in any case, hoping to bring a bit more clarity to this one area of the proverbial elephant, so that we may better understand the entire elephant, and ultimately learn how to ride it.