On February 1, 2019, I made a professional commitment to learn something new every day and share it with my organization as the new chief learning officer at The Kraft Heinz Company. On January 31, 2020, I completed 365 days of learning, as part of an effort to model what it looks like to #LearnLikeAnOwner and #MakeTimeForLearning in an organization undergoing a learning transformation.
As a result of that year of learning, I gathered 365 valuable lessons — which I share in my new book, “Let’s Learn Our Way Through It, Shall We?” — which I wrote to encourage others to commit to their own personal and professional learning journeys.
Consider with me, Lesson No. 90: “Knowing your purpose is critical. Aligning your purpose with your company’s purpose is magical…Emotional ownership is something that happens when your purpose is aligned with your company’s purpose. That way, if the organization walks in its purpose, and you do, you move together. You win together.”
Like many others, my colleagues and I are in various stages of “return to office.” As I’m someone who truly values the wisdom of Lesson No.2 in my book: Start before you are ready,” I recently visited the office for a bit of a trial run, as it is open for those who may want to stop by, on a limited basis, for a change of scenery from the work-from-home life many of us have been living for almost two years due to the pandemic.
When I entered our corporate headquarters in Chicago, I was greeted by some familiar sights: the larger-than-life Kool-Aid Man who occupies a wall on our main company floor, eternally bursting through it as he likes to do. Another wall made to resemble stacked Kraft Singles encloses a workspace. And some new things — a Velveeta branded “Quesofa” that invites employees to sit and have a cheesy connection with a coworker. As I approached my workspace, I shook my head as I realized that despite my best efforts to remember to bring all the things I needed to be productive, the glasses that I had begun wearing due to too many pandemic video meetings, I had forgotten at home.
I looked around to determine what to do about that and smiled as I saw, on our walls, our company purpose: “Let’s Make Life Delicious,” reminding me of our collective call to action, our reason to exist — reminding each of us why the work we do each day matters.
A Deloitte study states that “Purpose-driven companies witness higher market share gains and grow three times faster on average than their competitors, all while achieving higher workforce and customer satisfaction.”
This study is part of a growing body of commentary about the importance of purpose — how powerful it can be for both people and for corporations to live in alignment with what matters to them.
For many of us, our personal purpose became much clearer after we were motivated to think about what mattered most to us during the global pandemic. For me, considering how my personal purpose aligns with my company’s Purpose provides a clear roadmap about how to make my return to office as smooth as possible.
Let’s make life delicious.
What made my life delicious during a world so thoroughly affected by COVID-19? The things that I have been most grateful for? The things that I depended on to keep me sane while so much of the world was drenched in uncertainty?
For one, the empathy that I developed for myself and for others — for my team, for my friends and family, and for members of my community that I focused on helping in the ways that I was empowered to help. The walks by Lake Michigan and through the Chicago Botanical Garden that allowed me to connect with nature — and the rides on my Peloton bike that connected me with friends who were focused on health and wellness from home. The technology that allowed my colleagues and me from around the world to connect, learn together and check in on each other. Music. Fresh cut flowers. Long drives with my windows open. Talking more often with my family and sorority sisters and friends from college.
Committing to self-care. Sleep. Meditation. Writing. These are things that made my life delicious during COVID times, and things that I know I need to make sure that I continue to enjoy even after I “return to office” and a different workflow emerges within a hybrid work environment. And as a leader, knowing what matters to my team and supporting them in continuing to keep those things in their lives as they return to the office is an important responsibility.
The rhythms of work and life will shift as we familiarize ourselves with a world that has been transformed by our collective experience during one of the most challenging times in human history. Remembering your purpose can help you to navigate those changing rhythms. I count myself lucky that in remembering my company’s Purpose, I can remind myself: Let’s Make Life Delicious. And if I remember that – and my glasses – things will likely work out just fine.
