High purpose = low burnout

Read time: less than 5 minutes

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You probably know someone who will never retire.

A parent, a partner, maybe a mentor. They just don’t have it in them to slow down or stop.

Yet we don’t typically worry about them burning out. In fact, quite the opposite, we recognize work as a core part of what keeps them sharp.

→ A 2002 study, found that maintaining a high purpose in life was related to better health, higher everyday competence, and higher socioeconomic status. In old age, maintaining high levels of purpose in life may become more difficult, due to increasing losses such as retirement.

→ A 2016 study conducted by Oregon and Colorado state professors published by the Harvard Business Review, found that one additional year of age of retirement was associated with an 11% lower mortality risk.

TLDR;
Work keeps you active and gives you purpose.

More purpose = longer life

Burnout works the same way.

Have you ever felt totally burnt out, when in theory there’s no reason for it?
Physically you’re fine: you’ve got a manageable workload, a decent work/life balance... but mentally you’re totally drained.

Or better yet, had a team member complain that they're burnt out despite having a fraction of your workload.
Meanwhile you’re back-to-back all day with barely enough time to scarf down your lunch… how could they possibly be burnt out?

The missing ingredient: purpose.

A 2021 follow-up to to the earlier study on purpose and health found that individuals who retired from dissatisfying jobs experienced a renewed sense of purpose after retirement.

In other words, when you enjoy your work, it gives you purpose that keeps you sharp and healthy - when it feels insignificant or lacks meaning, even the smallest task feels like a total slog.

With high levels of purpose, your willingness to work hard skyrockets 🚀

Some examples:

Executive leaders often work after hours and on weekends.

Not because they make more money (no amount of money motivates you to work on things you dislike). Well run exec teams have direct influence on the strategy and outcomes of the business = high purpose. 

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Founders never stop working on their business.

Every waking hour (and sleepless night) is dedicated to it. It’s their business, they have high levels of agency and reap the biggest benefits of its success = super high purpose.

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Moms just never stop working at all.

Literally THE hardest job, physically, mentally, emotionally. Despite how hard it is, they [often] do it again and again. Growing and raising a human being = insanely high purpose.

Yes of course these folks also burn out, to the highest level. But the limit at which that moment is reached, and the willingness to fight through it is exponentially higher.

5 ways to give your team more purpose

If you want to build a high performing team that works hard without burning out - give them incredibly high levels of purpose.

Here’s how:

1. Hire the right people

Focus your recruiting on folks who fit the DNA of the company and your team, and they will naturally find purpose in their work. In addition to alignment on company values, look for candidates who have a deeper connection with either the problem your business solves, the product/service it offers, or target customer it serves.

Folks with less experience who have this deeper connection, more often out perform their counterparts who simply having X years of experience in the space.

Experience ≠ Success

2. Be crystal clear with a mission and vision

If purpose is feeling connected to something bigger, then a clear mission is a pre-requisite.

At the company level, this means setting a clear long term vision, and breaking it down into digestible annual/quarterly cadences.
At the team level, this means being clear on the role your team plays in the greater goal of the business, repeating it often, and rallying folks around it.

The easier it is for your team to make connections to every tier between them and company-wide success, the easier it will be for them to feel purpose everyday.

3. Give people challenging work

Feeling a sense of purpose goes hand in hand with feeling a sense of accomplishment. A sense of accomplishment comes from doing challenging work.

Trust your team with important things and allow them to execute. Stay in the details enough to coach them along the way - they’ll need it and you’ll stay close enough to keep everyone rowing in the same direction.

4. Prioritize community

A sense of community comes from everyone buying into a system, and supporting each other through it - it has a multiplier effect on purpose.

Hire folks who exhibit community-led qualities, and build systems that encourage the community over the individual. For example, knowledge sharing cadences, cross-team activities, employee resource groups, etc.

This enables everyone to buy in to something bigger, and prioritize the group over themselves.

5. Make people feel important

This is the simplest, but by far most effective way to drive purpose - few leaders do it well.

We all just want to feel important. Sometimes, all it takes is someone telling (or showing) us we are.

• Give people praise - 1:1 is ok, publicly is better.

• Pull people in - ask them for their opinions on critical matters, include them in important meetings, allow them to influence you.

• Practice active listening - when I think back to the times when I wasn’t 100% present with my team I don’t remember gaining anything meaningful from whatever it was that distracted me.

Note: be authentic here - making people feel important isn’t an item to check off on your to-do list.

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High performing teams require high levels of purpose to avoid burning out.

As a leader, it’s your job to set a clear mission, hire people who naturally align to it, make them feel part of a community, give them challenging work, and make them feel important when they deliver.

Book recommendation

How to Win Friends and Influence People

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is a classic for leaders.

It emphasizes the importance of understanding and valuing others to build meaningful relationships - like a cheatsheet for getting more from your team in a genuine, authentic way.

Originally published in 1936, it highlights the need to genuinely appreciate people, listen to them actively, and acknowledge their importance. Carnegie encourages readers to show sincere interest in others' perspectives, give honest praise, and avoid criticism, which can harm relationships.

Ultimately, making people feel important is central to influencing and fostering goodwill.