Learn, Share, Grow - Eudaimonia and Purpose

 Below is a lesson from an excerpt from "The Coin" by Justin Mears on a leadership guide to inspire, inform, and direct the efforts of other toward a common purpose, as well as our key learnings.

The Blue Courage team is dedicated to continual learning and growth.  We have adopted a concept from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team called “Learn, Share, Grow”.  We are constantly finding great articles, videos, and readings that have so much learning.  As we learn new and great things, this new knowledge should be shared for everyone to then grow from.

Eudaimonia: The Connection and Importance of PURPOSE

Justin Mears

“The Greeks use the term eudaimonia to describe the highest human good or flourishing. This form of ‘happiness’ was directly connected to a sense of meaning or purpose, the noble pursuit of what was good in life.

This is what we should all be striving to achieve, finding our own sense of flourishing and highest good, continuously working to become the best version of ourselves. Helping others on your team discover and live out their purpose is where you come in as a leader.

If you don’t know your own purpose, you’d better start there, but as a leader, that’s only the first step. You then have a responsibility to help those on your team figure out their purpose as well. Once you’ve discovered that, you can work to align those purposes with the collective purpose of your organization.”

Find the book here.

Key Learnings:

• Eudaimonia - (Greek) highest human good or flourishing. Form of happiness directly connected to a sense of meaning or purpose, the noble pursuit of what was good in life.
• Purpose - enables dreams, provides passion and motivation to strive for those dreams, and drives commitment to realize the dreams no matter what. Alignment is critical to establishing a collective purpose - personal and organizational purpose.
• Dreams - there are often enormous gaps between what you know your purpose to be and the dreams that purpose has instilled in you. The gap is filled with doubt, uncertainty, fear, insecurities. "Pit of Struggle and Fear". 
• Vision - the way to the other side isn't around obstacles but through them with vision. Vision is the bridge between purpose and dreams. Passion and motivation without vision is wasted energy. Vision takes every action we take back to our purpose. What the "bridge" (vision) looks like will constantly evolve.
• Goals - the blueprint - the goals a leader empowers their team to create. A great vision without goals is just wasted time. Goals provide a map down to the finest detail; Provide concrete, definitive building blocks to translate that vision into reality. Goals provide focus, direction for that purpose-driven energy, and resolve to see that vision into fruition.
• Standards - the code that ensures the "bridge" (vision) is structurally sound. Standards are norms and behaviors that represent who you are and what you are about. Values! Standards derive from the proper prioritization of your collective values that drive the daily actions and decision. Leaders must be consistent and intentional in communicating and exemplifying what it will take. The team needs to know what success looks like for each of its members, and how their individual success impacts the whole. Standards are non-negotiable. 
• Belief - you have to believe you are the right person for the job in that moment. That you will reach the dream. Hope is essential/critical to success. But hope isn't enough. You must move from hope to belief. Each team member must believe that success is possible -- leaders must back that up with daily actions.
• Attitude of Belief - remove the negatives - no more excuses, complaints, only focus on the now. Belief = I have decided in my heart and mind that something will happen (expectations)! Belief doesn't mean everything will be perfect. Trust your process, have confidence in your purpose, your vision is solid, standards are necessary, and the bridge will be unlimited.
• Leadership: "I know what you are capable of, even if your own "bridge" is surrounded in fog, I will guide you through it."
• Commitment - when you commit you have an obligation to doing everything in your power to add to your team's legacy and leave it in a better place than where you found it. There is a preparation that comes with commitment and the accountability to create a culture where everyone is operating with that same level of excellence -- where everyone is deliberate and intentional in its preparation commitment to operating with the proper standards.