Lead the People #113: Meaningful Work: How Leaders Can Build Purpose and Connection with Tamara Myles
Tamara Myles is an accomplished consultant, author, and international speaker with over two decades of experience helping leaders improve business performance. She is the author of The Secret to Peak Productivity, which introduced her proprietary Peak Productivity Pyramid framework. Tamara’s insights have been featured in leading publications such as Forbes, Fast Company, USA Today, and Business Insider. She has worked with clients such as Microsoft, KPMG, MassMutual, and Google.
Tamara has a masters degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also serves as an instructor in the masters program and a trainer for the world-renowned Penn Resilience Program. She is a professor in the Master of Science in Leadership program at Boston College, where she integrates cutting-edge positive psychology research into practical applications for leadership and organizational success.
Top 3 Takeaways
- Everybody’s watching. 48% of an employee's experience of meaning at work is directly related to their leader's actions and behaviors. This highlights the crucial role that managers play in creating meaningful work environments.
- It’s elementary. Meaningful work consists of three key components: community (feeling connected), contribution (feeling work matters), and challenge (personal growth). When leaders focus on these elements, they see improved engagement, retention, innovation, and resilience.
- Links over location. The shift to hybrid/remote work has intensified the importance of intentionally building connections across organizations. Companies need to create compelling reasons for people to come together rather than forcing mandatory office returns.
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From the Source
"We spend more time at work than we do with our family and our friends combined... People say that work friendship is the most important aspect to a happy work life."
"Meaning happens in moments that matter... It's not in these grand big gestures, but in moments."
"Our brains respond to loneliness in the same way as it responds to thirst and hunger. So the same alarms activate in our brains when we don't feel a sense of belonging as when we are hungry and thirsty."
"We found that this role modeling and walking the talk is so important that it is a destroyer of meaning if you say one thing and do another."
"When leaders focus on making work more meaningful, not only do individuals thrive and they are happier... but also the organization performs much better. Engagement is up, retention is up, innovation is up, resilience is up."
Connect with Tamara
Meaningful Work (book): https://amzn.to/4kORS2O
Website: http://www.makeworkmeaningful.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaramyles
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamaramyles