Leadership is the behavior each of us exerts when we take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.

Purpose needs to be nurtured. It gains resolve when faced with adversity. The ability to overcome obstacles and challenges is daunting but when accomplished gives us a great feeling of achievement. At the same time we need to nurture purpose by exposing ourselves to new opportunities. We need to learn continuously and we need to teach what we learn to others. Such things like that, and many more, help shape and develop the sense of a leader's purpose so that he or she can provide greater service to the organization.

From the hindsight of history George Washington seems larger than life, more statuesque than man. Too bad! Washington's greatness as a leader was courage under fire and persistence in the face of obstacles. Yet even he at times doubted himself. But he put those doubts aside and forged ahead, convinced of his noble purpose.

The words a leader speaks are important, of course. But how they're delivered can make all the difference, especially in tough times.

Leaders are creatures of their environment, but unlike most creatures, they are also movers of it. As movers of and within the organization, they push it forward, at the same time shaping it as much as it shapes them.

Solution = Conflict + Collaboration

There are some terrific resources on how to find individual purpose but relative resources on how to discover purpose and apply to an organization. My challenge was to show organizations how they could unlock the purpose of their organizations and put it to good use for employees to apply to their own jobs. The net effect is to help individuals, teams and organizations to optimize performance by understanding how to use purpose for good intention.