Purple Paper: Your brain on purpose—the neuropsychology of leadership purpose

What if there was a tool that would guarantee greater leadership effectiveness? One that would help you be more effective in stressful situations, help you make better leadership decisions, help you build important work relationships, help keep you from derailing your leadership during stressful moments, and help prevent professional burnout.

Is that a tool you would like to have in your leadership tool belt? Obviously the answer is yes and the good news is that such a tool does indeed exist, but there is a problem. The problem is that this tool appears to be simple—deceptively so—causing many leaders to be skeptical of its value and discarding it without further thought. The tool is called a leadership purpose, which is a set of beliefs that provides the fuel to exceptional team and organizational performance. It does this by keeping your leadership actions on track and pointed toward achieving optimal results through the development of better work relationships. A well-designed leadership purpose is derived from understanding yourself—your own beliefs, values, emotions, and behaviors. The objective of this article is to explore the science behind a leadership purpose and lift any skepticism you may have about spending the time and energy needed to develop and lead by a well-designed purpose statement.