{"id":16742,"date":"2023-10-08T15:39:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T15:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/how-to-create-meaning-at-work\/"},"modified":"2023-10-08T15:39:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T15:39:44","slug":"how-to-create-meaning-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=16742","title":{"rendered":"How To Create Meaning At Work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cMy work feels meaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a sentiment I hear every single day in my career coaching practice. Many clients talk about their jobs as \u201cfine enough\u201d but say that they end work days feeling flat and empty. They describe their energy sinking as the week goes on, even when there doesn\u2019t happen to be excessive stress or a particularly intense workload at hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there something wrong with me?\u201d is the common follow up question.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I say. \u201cIt\u2019s human nature to want and need something deeper in our lives. \u2018Fine enough\u2019 isn\u2019t actually <\/em>enough. That state of being drains us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usually that\u2019s when I see relief unfurl.<\/p>\n

Meaning At Work Can Be Self-Generated – In The Right Conditions<\/h2>\n

Knowing that our need for \u201csomething more\u201d at work – i.e., meaning – is normal can be helpful. But how do we get that \u201csomething more\u201d? And can we create it for ourselves?<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur research shows that meaningfulness is largely something that individuals find for themselves in their work,\u201d wrote Catherine Bailey and Adrian Madden in their comprehensive study published in MIT Sloan Management Review. \u201cBut meaninglessness is something that organizations and leaders can actively cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, we can generate<\/em> meaning at work – as long as our employers don\u2019t get in our way!<\/strong><\/p>\n

This rings true with my coaching clients\u2019 experiences, and my own frequent attempts at job crafting throughout my career. Given \u201cgood enough\u201d organizations and bosses, we can intentionally create a sense of \u201cmore than enough\u201d at work. But if our environments are stifling, conflict-laden, hierarchically rigid and\/or inhumane, all the efforts in the world won\u2019t make a difference.<\/p>\n

Bailey and Madden identified seven particular ways that employers often undermine the creation of meaningful work. They do so by:<\/p>\n