Leaders do not motivate per se. They create conditions for people to motivate themselves. They do it by communicating clearly, setting clear expectations, following through and recognizing performance.

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated."Mark McCormack, Author and sports entrepreneur"Psychologists tell us that money is a satisfier, not a motivator... Recognition is. That's why we do what we do... Recognition is critical to self-esteem. Without it, we feel undervalued, even insignificant. Money is nice, sure. But once you establish a basis of monetary rewards, without the accompanying verbal and social affirmation, the employee will quickly become disgruntled and ask for more. Eventually, more will never be enough.

Communication comes with practice. As a leader you must speak the truth; listen for understanding; and learn from what you hear and do not hear.

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.

Focusing on one's own purpose is a matter of considering what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how you will do it. Easy questions, but they do provide deep thought.

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

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.