Can you hear it? Something important is being asked of us.

Something deep is being asked of us and we need to find new resources to connect with our inner space, the place where we can experience a glimpse of what’s possible, the emerging and even never-before-thought possible.

What exactly is being asked of us? For many, it’s a deeper sense of meaning and professional purpose. A survey undertaken by the research consultancy Great Places To Work Institute, revealed that 85% of employees reported that their work had special meaning and it wasn’t “just a job”; 88% agreed that they “make a difference”, and 91% said that “when I look at what we accomplish I feel a sense of pride.”

Answering why we do what we do has always been important, but now feels more essential than ever. As such, leading has become an existential search that requires engaging at a deeper human level.

We have the resources. Let’s ignite the ‘seeking system’

The good news is that we do have the resources and ‘inner technologies’ to grow and evolve. We just need to use them more. We need to ignite the ‘seeking system’. This is a term coined by Jaak Panksepp, a pioneer in the field of neuroscience. Panksepp identified an evolutionary part of our brains that stirs the natural impulse to explore the world, play, learn about our environments, and extract purpose and meaning from our circumstances.

When we learn something new, we create new connections between our neurons. We rewire our brains to adapt to new situations.

Purpose is personal. It is designed to elicit an emotional reaction as the body releases dopamine. As we all know, it is at these moments that we feel motivated and alive.

Yet detrimentally, most organisations are not designed to take full advantage of our natural human resources. Rather they are structured within a hierarchy of control, efficiency, and measurement – a paradigm that is a legacy from the Industrial Revolution.

As we sense a new necessity and refocus on what deeply matters, I believe it is time to deactivate this fear-anxiety model. This is an essential step in our evolutionary process of reconnecting with our true nature. As Jaak Panksepp said: “When the seeking systems are not active, human aspirations remain frozen in an endless winter of discontent.”

With small but consequential nudges and interventions, it’s possible to activate employees ‘seeking systems’ by encouraging them to experiment, play with new ideas, use their imagination and feel a sense of meaning at work.

But this activation must be ‘felt’ rather than processed in a cognitive way. As Carl Jung said “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity.” CW 6, par. 197

As a leader, you too will be transformed in the process, as this story of ‘Mary’ (not their real name), a Director in a global organisation demonstrates.

Adapting To Critical Change. A Case Study

Like most, Mary’s industry is transforming. The introduction of new digital technologies is threatening to change the conditions in which they and their department works. On top, there is the perceived fear that they and their teams may become redundant.

Against this backdrop, the challenge was to help Mary aid their teams in adjusting to these changes and perceive them not as a threat but a natural evolution.

Initially, Mary was guided away from the habit of trying to solve problems quickly to one of observation. They put this into practice with a more human-centred approach that gathered different perspectives, held back judgement, vocalised positive reinforcement and gave space to others.

Mary’s perception was that, with very few exceptions, their teams were not open to change. After a series of individual and group discussions, this attitude was reversed. What’s more, Mary has been able to create a road map using a systemic transformation approach for their teams and address the issue of change according to their own individual situations.

Throughout the process, Mary moved from telling people what to do (a practice that was always met with resistance) to giving them space to explore their attitudes towards technological change.

In feedback to the sessions Mary stated that in their natural leadership approach, they liked to to solve problems and create solutions. But this time they did it the other way around, they began by questioning themself first, then embarking on an existential search. This approach enabled them to activate ‘the seeking systems’ of their employees. They realised that people do not move much by indicators, it only produces small changes. Mary mentioned that for them it was amazing to realise that people move in larger ways by purpose, experimentation and emotional bonding.

As you can appreciate from their experience, Mary progressed from a mind-set of how to make their teams’ performance efficient, predictable and controlled to allowing them to personalise and give meaning to their new roles by focusing on the naturally and intrinsically rewarding elements of each person’s jobs.

Appreciating Human Capacity

We need to simplify things by relying more on human capacity, and by igniting purpose, experimentation, creativity, and emotional bonding. In fact, purpose is something we create by working on what matters the most in a collective situation. This was seen as increased motivation for all of Mary’s teams, largely generated by Mary’s tendency to listen more. They began to have frequent conversations about the situation, where emotions like fear and anxiety were discussed. This process allowed a new understanding and the opportunity to use potentially dormant resources to outgrow the circumstances, find a new way forward and embrace technology and change.

And of course, the organisation as whole was also positively impacted. The foundation for a learning culture and innovative approach of embracing emerging technologies was set. It’s an ongoing process that will be a constant source of innovation and bring valuable information to their constituents.