Most mornings, I walk through wooded trails in a rural park before many other walkers arrive. I hear the buzz of a weed whacker off in the distance and catch the pungent scent of weeds being trimmed back by a park volunteer who is there most days. I’ve often wondered how he knows where to go, since it’s a large, mostly wooded park with just a few trails.

One morning, our paths finally crossed in the parking lot. He was unloading equipment from his car, and I took the opportunity to ask about his process. In the few years I’ve walked there, we’ve exchanged no more than a nod or a quick “good morning.” He’s a quiet man by nature. But when I asked about his volunteer work, he lit up.

He showed me the small device he carries on his belt—his compass. It tracks the growth of invasive species and creates a roadmap for trimming that day. He explained how managing these invasive plants protects the health of the woods and the diverse wildlife that call it home.

Why does he do this nearly every day for no pay?

Because when you do work you love or believe in, it’s more than a task. Purpose isn’t a slogan—it’s something you practice. And when practiced consistently, it creates deeper connection, ownership, and meaning.

Purpose Isn’t Understood—It’s Experienced

Purpose is more than a list of job duties or goals. It’s the emotional connection between what someone does and why it matters. When people understand how their work contributes to a greater purpose—whether it’s protecting a park or serving a patient—they feel energized, proud, and motivated.

Too often, though, work becomes transactional. Performed in a vacuum. Unseen and unrecognized.

Purpose, when experienced, becomes a positive emotional hook—a fuel source for sustained motivation. Without it, it’s like running on empty, hoping to make it to the next gas station.

  

The Leader’s Role: Activator, Not Just Author

Mission and vision are important—but they’re the starting point, not the destination. These words need translation.

What do the words mean for this team, in this setting, with this work?

Leaders connect the dots between vision and tasks. They activate experiences that promote purpose and meaning. Your actions give shape to those words. When teams feel purpose, it’s because a leader helped make it visible—in conversations, in recognition, in how values show up in decisions.

But when leaders disconnect purpose from people, things start to fray.

• Saying one thing and doing another
• Prioritizing metrics without meaning
• Failing to acknowledge the human need for connection

Activation is the real work of leadership: creating the conditions where people don’t just hear the mission—they feel it in motion in an environment that promotes flourishing.

Activating Purpose

• Have conversations about impact, not just output
• Make decisions aligned with organization values
• Help the team navigate hard work because the “why” is clear
• Recognize contributions tied to meaning and purpose
• Revisit the mission with the team—ask what it looks like in action
• Celebrate everyday wins that reflect values and purpose
• Design rituals that reinforce purpose (e.g., storytelling in huddles)
• Involve the team in shaping how their work connects to outcomes
• Purpose comes alive not in posters, but in decisions, behaviors, and shared moments of impact.

The goal?

Bridge the gap between mission statements and lived experience— so your team isn’t just getting work done or going through the motions but doing work that matters.  

Just like the park volunteer uses his compass to guide purposeful work, leaders help teams navigate by connecting daily actions to something bigger. His work isn’t flashy—but it matters. The same is true for leadership. When purpose is practiced consistently, it becomes visible in the everyday—through clarity, connection, and care.

 

Ask yourself:

• How are you helping your team feel purpose—not just hear it?
• What small shift would bring the mission off the page and into your culture?