Guide Don’t Grind: Reconnecting to Purpose Before the New Year

Dec 23 / Steve Lowisz
As the year closes, leaders rush to plan, prioritize, and project. That momentum can be helpful — or it can grind people into inertia. Reconnecting to leadership purpose before you plan clarifies why the work matters and realigns energy toward what produces value. You do not need a long retreat. You need a short ritual: ten minutes, three steps, one clear next step. Do it first, then plan.

Why Reconnecting To Purpose Matters

Purpose is the gravitational field for choices. Without it, standards become metrics to chase rather than outcomes to care for. People tolerate pressure when they understand the why; they burn out when asked to perform without meaning. A leader who reconnects to purpose signals that the organization values direction and human cost equally. That prevents the grind — frantic activity with little learning — and creates a leadership posture that invites ownership, not compliance.

When leaders skip this step, plans feel hollow. Teams do more, not better. Sustainable performance begins when strategy is rooted in a clear sense of purpose.
For a short reflection to follow the reset, see Before You Plan, Pause.

The Ten Minute Purpose Reset — A Short Ritual

A simple, repeatable reset leaders can run individually or with a small group. Timebox it: ten minutes total.

Step 1 — Pause And Name The Why (3 Minutes)

Close your laptop. Write one sentence that begins, “We exist to…” — no committee language. Make it crisp and actionable.

Facilitator Prompt: “We exist to… (one sentence).”

Why this works: A single sentence forces clarity. It becomes a north star that makes tradeoffs obvious.

Step 2 — Surface Helps And Harms (4 Minutes)

Quickly list two things that honor the why and two things that contradict it (meetings, metrics, incentives). Be specific: name one meeting, one report, or one process that helps and one that harms.

Facilitator Prompt: “List two helps and two harms in three minutes.”

Why this works: Purpose is practical when you can point to the practices that support or undermine it.

Step 3 — Commit To One Small Change (3 Minutes)

Pick one 24-hour step and a 48-hour check in. Announce it and calendar it. The point is an explicit micro experiment aligned to purpose.

Facilitator Prompt: “What is one 24-hour step you will take? Who owns it? When will you check in?”

Why this works: Tiny, visible tests reduce risk and produce early evidence. They turn purpose into practice.

How To Use This Reset With Your Team

  • Individual: Leaders run the ten minutes privately and post the sentence and the change to a shared doc.
  • Team Pause: Run the reset at the start of a planning workshop — small groups write then a representative summarizes themes.
  • Follow Up: Use a 48-hour check in and a one-week quick debrief to see whether the micro experiment is worth embedding.
To convert experiments into durable practice, see From Lessons To Leverage.

Short Examples — Purpose In Practice

  • Marketing Launch

    “We exist to help customers launch faster.” The team replaced a long weekly demo with a short async demo plus a 48-hour unblock ritual. Launch cadence improved and the team regained focus.
  • Operations Example

    “We exist to keep people safe and productive.” The manager introduced protected handover windows. Predictable recovery reduced incidents and improved attendance.

Pitfalls To Avoid

  • Purpose As Platitude: If the sentence is vague, it offers no guidance. Force specificity.
  • Too Big A Change: The reset generates one small change. Don’t leap to large programs.
  • No Modeling: Leaders must model the change. Blocking protected time and honoring it is the most persuasive signal.

Three Practices To Make Purpose Stick

  • Run the Ten Minute Purpose Reset before any planning workshop.
  • Commit to One Small Change (24-hour step + 48-hour check in).
  • Tell One Team Member your commitment publicly and report back.

Reflect Commit And Act

Reconnecting to purpose is strategic. It shapes how you set standards, measure performance, and protect people. Download the Ten Minute Purpose Reset and try it at your next planning session. If you want LLI to co-facilitate a group reset or run a short workshop, Book a 20 Minute LLI Insight Session.