The Vice President of Leadership at LinkedIn claims that the biggest driver of motivation is the chance to serve a larger purpose beyond our careers and ourselves, rather than salary, benefits, bonuses or other material incentives; companies that are able to successfully focus their people, their teams and their culture around meaning outperform their competition.
Fred Kofman's approach to leadership has little to do with the standard practices taught in business school and traditional books. Bringing together economics and business theroy, communications and conflict resolution, family counseling and mindfulness mediation, Kofman argues in The Meaning Revolution that our most deep-seated, unspoken and universal anxiety stems from our fear that our life is being wasted -- that the end of life will overtake us when our song is still unsung. Material incentives -- salary and benefits -- account for perhaps 15% of employees' motivation at work. The other 85% is driven by a need to belong, a feeling that what we do day in and day out makes a difference, that how we spend our time on earth serves a larger purpose beyond just ourselves.
Kofman claims that transcendental leaders, whereever they are in the hierarchy, are able to put aside their self-interests, and help others to feel connected with others on a team or in an organization on a great mission, and part of an ennobling purpose. He argues that every organization involved in work that is nonviolent and non addictive has what he calls an "immortality project" at its core. And the challenge for leaders is to identify and expand on that core, to inspire all stakeholders to take part.
