Joy Works

Chapter 5Purpose

The third driver of joy is purpose. People have been thinking about purpose from the earliest days of philosophy. We're all searching for our “why.”

In our survey, we heard moments of joy tied to purpose, whether it was helping customers:

“When I can help customers and make them happy, that brings me joy.”

helping teammates:

“I love to guide younger members of the team to go from no knowledge to leading professionals.”

or living up to their own potential:

“I feel joy when I find an innovative solution to a problem.”

Purpose is the “why” of an organization's existence—the driving force and the bond that brings the organization together to achieve success. Over the past decades, purpose has evolved from a focus on profit and shareholder value to the broader influence and impact an organization can have to effect positive change.

Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever, observed that people “don't want to look back at what they've done and say, ‘Well, I built the market share of Dove 4.5 percent… .’ No, they want to say, ‘I helped so many millions of women achieve self‐esteem. I helped so many people improve their nutrition levels, and in doing so, I've actually strengthened the institution I represent.’ And that is really purpose in action.”

Michael Nyenhuis leads UNICEF USA, a nonprofit with the clear purpose of helping the world's most vulnerable children. “Purpose is what gives us joy in life,” he says. To him, purpose is “engaging in something bigger than ...