Writing my master’s thesis on individual and organizational purpose alignment was one of the most thrilling intellectual journeys I’ve ever embarked on. I wanted to understand why some people love their job and others don’t.
Is the company or the individual responsible? It’s both and I understood this: aligning personal purpose with organizational goals is the key to unlocking success and deep fulfillment for individuals and organizations alike.
Let me take you through what I uncovered.
Aligning is like Dancing
Aligning individual and organizational purposes is not a simple checkbox. It’s an ongoing, evolving relationship.
Think of it like a dance: fluid, responsive, and constantly adjusting to the rhythm of change. For this alignment to work, the individual and the organization must move together, in sync.
This led me to explore the powerful combination of fluidity and synergy—two forces that drive alignment.
Fluidity ensures personal growth stays connected with the organization’s direction, while synergy creates that magical overlap where personal and company goals meet.
Breaking it down: Knowledge, Action, and Motivation
Purpose is a rather abstract concept.
To find strategies and points of alignment between an individual and the organization, it is necessary to break down this concept and make it tangible. So, I used Carlos Rey’s Organizational purpose definition.
He defines three dimensions to explain organizational purpose: knowledge, action, and motivation. These three pillars became the foundation of the alignment model developed in the thesis.
Knowledge is where it all starts.
It’s about knowing the “why.” If people don’t understand the bigger picture or can’t articulate their role within it, they’re lost.
For a long time, organizations have been focused on profit, but purpose gives people something more: a reason to care.
I found that employees are like travellers without a map and clear purpose.
They need purpose clarity to guide their decisions, and when they have it, you can see a transformation: higher engagement, better performance, and a sense of direction.
Action is where the rubber meets the road.
Purpose isn’t just about knowing, it’s about doing. For the purpose to take hold, it has to be lived out in the day-to-day actions of the company. This means hiring people who align with the company’s purpose, creating purpose-based training, and making sure that tasks, no matter how small, contribute to the larger goal.
Organizations can make this happen by consciously integrating purpose into every process.
It’s not just about being busy; it’s about being busy for a reason.
Motivation is where the heart is.
Is the emotional drive that pushes employees to go beyond a transactional job. It’s what creates that extra spark, the reason why people feel connected to something larger than themselves. Purpose-driven motivation is different. It’s not about the paycheck, it’s about the impact.
When purpose resonates on an emotional level, it becomes an unstoppable force that drives people to go beyond what’s required.
It’s where the personal and professional blend into one.
By aligning knowledge, action and motivation, you create a purpose-driven culture that performs at a championship level.
Think of it as keeping a sports team in sync. Each player knows the game plan, takes action toward a common goal, and stays motivated by a shared purpose. This is the essence of Purpose Alignment, where fluidity and synergy guide the organization toward greater success.
Purpose-driven motivation is different. It’s not about the paycheck, it’s about the impact.
The perfect combination: Fluidity meets Synergy
The heart of the Purpose Alignment Model is simple yet powerful: using fluidity and synergy as a bridge to align purpose in its three dimensions.
Fluidity is the organization’s ability to let personal purpose influence corporate goals, like allowing an athlete’s unique strengths to shape team strategy.
Synergy is where individual and organizational purposes intersect, creating a shared drive much like a team rallying behind a common goal.
Fluidity and synergy are the secret weapons that bring harmony between individual motivations and the organization’s goals.
But here’s the challenge: alignment isn’t a “one size fits all” approach.
Each organization, like every team, has its unique culture and external pressures. This makes alignment a constant process of reflection and adjustment.
So, what’s the secret to keeping this alignment on point?
It’s all about coherence, authenticity, and integrity.
- Coherence means ensuring actions reflect the organization’s mission.
- Authenticity means leaders must genuinely believe in and model the purpose, like a coach who walks the talk.
- Integrity, though, is where the magic happens. When the purpose isn’t just stated but lived, like a team consistently playing with heart, even under pressure.
Fluidity: Empowering the Individual
Fluidity is about creating a dynamic relationship between personal and organizational purposes.
When an employee’s personal goals mesh seamlessly with the company’s mission, you unlock a sense of empowerment. This empowerment fosters self-efficacy, autonomy, and a deep sense of competence. Organizational leaders must cultivate this fluidity by promoting self-determination, psychological safety and creating space for employees to express their authentic selves within the company structure.
Synergy: The Power of Shared Goals
While fluidity nurtures the individual, synergy amplifies the collective.
Synergy happens when personal and organizational purposes overlap. In an organization, synergy is achieved when employees’ personal goals contribute to a greater collective purpose—creating a deep sense of belonging and unity.
Employees should feel that their individual contributions are part of a bigger picture, leading to identity fusion, where personal and organizational identities merge. This collective unity generates higher levels of motivation and engagement, driving both individual and corporate success.
The role of Leadership
Leadership plays a key role in achieving purpose alignment.
atrain Leadership Development Journeys are designed to evoke deep reflections in the leader at a personal level, as a team level and at an organizational level.
When thinking of the three principles of “leading myself, others, and the organization”, I find a correlation when it comes to the theory of purpose alignment through fluidity and synergy. Taking a couple of examples, it would look something like this:
Leading yourself: Knowledge and Fluidity
The first step in leadership is self-awareness and self-leadership. Knowing your purpose and how it aligns with the organization.
This relates directly to the knowledge dimension of Purpose Alignment, where you must understand your values, motivations, and personal goals. Fluidity plays a key role here, allowing you as a leader to integrate your purpose with the organizational mission. By leading yourself, you can clarify your path and embody the knowledge needed to drive the organization forward.
Leading others: Action and Synergy
Once you have clarity over your purpose, the next step is leading others.
This involves putting your purpose into action and ensuring your team is aligned with the organization’s goals.
Here, synergy is essential. As a leader, you help others connect their purpose with the team’s objectives, ensuring that everyone moves together toward a common vision.
Just as Purpose Alignment emphasizes putting knowledge into action, leading others means fostering an environment where employees’ contributions align with collective goals.
Leading the organization: Motivation and Collective Success
At the highest level, leading the organization involves uniting the entire entity around a shared purpose.
This is where the motivation dimension comes into play.
Your role as a leader is to ensure the purpose is internalized across the organization, motivating not just individuals but the entire workforce.
The idea is to foster a sense of belonging, where personal and organizational purposes merge, creating a unified drive toward collective success.
In this stage, you’re responsible for maintaining the balance between individual empowerment (fluidity) and organizational cohesion (synergy).
Why this matters
What I discovered is that achieving purpose alignment is like finding the sweet spot where everything just works.
It’s not about forcing people to adapt to a rigid system. It’s about fostering a culture where individuals feel free to bring their best selves to work and where their purpose fits naturally with the company’s vision. It’s about creating that balance where personal and organizational goals not only coexist but enhance one another.
Writing this thesis wasn’t just an academic exercise. It was a journey into understanding how organizations can be places of purpose, not just productivity. And it left me hopeful, because when individuals and organizations are aligned, the results are extraordinary. It’s not just about doing business; it’s about doing business with heart.
- Rey, Carlos, Miquel Bastons, and Phil Sotok (2019): Purpose-Driven Organizations: Management Ideas for a Better World. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan
- Pontefract, Dan (2018): The Purpose Effect: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role, and Your Organization, Elevate Publishing
- Fink, Franziska, and Michael Moeller (2018): Purpose Driven Organizations: Sinn Selbstorganisation Agilität. Schäffer-Poeschel
- Baldoni, John (2012): Lead with Purpose: Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself. New York: American Management Association
About the author
About the author
CAMILA is a consultant at atrain. Her daily work involves fostering growth in individuals and teams, backed by passion and professional background in people & organizational development. Originally from Venezuela, raised in Barcelona and now living in Hamburg, Camila enjoys and thrives in multicultural and diverse environments. When she’s not at work, you’ll likely find her enjoying nature or by the sea, preferably by the Mediterranean.
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