Jessie Zwaan, author of Purpose and Work and Built for People, joined us on The Modern People Leader.
We talked about why the old purpose-at-work narrative is breaking, how people relate to work through jobs, careers, and callings, and why HR leaders need to rethink how they build meaning into work.
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(08:05) Why Jessie Wrote Purpose and Work
(10:00) The Question That Sparked the Book: What Job Does Your Job Do for You?
(15:05) The Three Research Pillars Behind the Book
(16:38) Why People Are Questioning Work More Than Ever
(18:31) The Rise of Mission Statements, Values Walls and “Changing the World” Messaging
(20:07) How AI, Layoffs and Recession Broke the Purpose Narrative
(22:47) The Three Job Orientations: Job, Career and Calling
(23:43) Why Purpose Alignment Does Not Automatically Mean Higher Performance
(24:51) Why Seeing Work as “Just a Job” Can Still Drive High Performance
(26:22) Matching Workplace Programs to Employee Purpose Profiles
(27:22) How Writing Purpose of Work Changed Jessie as a Person and Leader
(34:11) What Holds HR Leaders Back From Changing the Purpose Narrative?
(35:08) The Employee Who Thought She Was Broken Because Purpose Did Not Motivate Her
(36:03) How False Purpose Narratives Can Silence and Hurt People
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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.
