People have personal potentials. Strengths and skills that are intuitively coming from their hearts, driven by a purpose. When people can bring in their personal potentials, they are at their Best. Living your purpose is what we all long for. We want to do, be, feel and live good. Not only for ourselves, but also for others. Creating a better world, Beter Together. People’s ultimate desire!

When are we able to live our purpose? We grow up in a family, a system, with a mother and father. Or other adults taking care of us. They give us values and behaviors, another system. We have brothers, sisters, family, rooms in the house, with coloured walls. Your bed is in a room, that you did not always choose yourself. We do sports, go to school, university. There we learn methods, theories, we try, experience, see new things. Meet new people. These are all organised and very well-thought-through systems.

When I look at people that live their purpose, they are not living with their parents anymore. Nor are they at schools or universities. Most of them work independently. They are free spirits! Loose from any given system, they have created their own system that is supporting them. They set and live their own values, behaviors and use strenghts, skills that come from their heart, living their purpose. Bringing their full personal potential. Connected to hearts. Not limited by any system around them.

In organisations we see a big movement these days. We talk about purpose and we want people to connect to their purpose. Bringing in craftmanship, passion and be able to do good.

To be honest, living your purpose in an organisation is not possible these days. An organisation is full of systems. We have (a lot of) parents, called leaders. They set the values, they give you a strategy and say how you have to behave.

Then we have rooms, called disciplines. When you enter an organisation you are immediately related to a discipline. Whether that is Leadership, Finance, Operations, HR etc. And within this room there are extra guidelines, expectations or even extra behaviors. The room has it’s location in the building and coloured paper on the wall. Even when you do not like the colour or the location that you have to work from, you have to accept that.

Another room with set expectations is positions. You have a job profile. A list of tasks and responsibilities that is expected from you. Any freedom to create, develop or change your job, add or delete tasks, is not possible. Your appraisal and reward is completely related to your job description and the provided strategy. Just another box that is given to you.

Going back to purpose, living your purpose. Bringing your best to work. The space people need to be able to live their purpose. In how we have organised ourselves in organisations, the power we give to our set systems with rooms and boxes, there simply is no space to be YOU, bring in your full potential. Organisations are living and are tight to their systems with boxes instead of living their people’s purposes making use of people’s Best Selves!

True organisational growth and true people growth these days, does not lie in holding tight to our systems with boxes: organisation structure, disciplines, positions, strategies, programmes etc. An adaptive organisation these days is an organisation that uses existing systems as nothing-but a draft of a structure to guide, not limit people, in bringing their full potentials. Open to suggestions, flexibility (agility) and willing to change and create what is needed for people to perform at their Best. Air to breathe, space is what brings purposes alive!

Let go of what is lacking your people to really bring in their Best. An attractive, inspiring, innovative and competitive organisation creates space for all personal potentials. Space to create, take risks, to be an enterpreneur, raise new ideas, learn and bring new ways of working driven and owned by your people.

Let all your people shine; behave, act and deliver outstanding! Working only from their hearts. Bringing collaboration, ownership and being completely self-aware! The organisation’s ultimate desire!

Better Together, from Hard to Heart.

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