Leaders Underestimate the Need for Meaning in Work
March 25, 2026
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The paycheck matters, and to take it a step further, the true value of total compensation matters more than ever. Nobody is arguing otherwise.
However, if you think a paycheck by itself is enough to unlock the best in your people, you’re leaving something enormous on the table, and your team is paying the price.
Here’s the hard truth: most managers never think about meaning. They think about results, deadlines, and tasks getting completed. And those things matter as well, but meaning feels soft. Philosophical or corny. Like an HR department issue. But that assumption is quietly killing engagement on teams everywhere.
And here’s the distinction that changes everything: managers don’t think about meaning. Leaders think about it first.
Managers don't think about meaning ever. Leaders think about it first.
Sarah managed a team at a mortgage company. Her team’s job was unglamorous by any measure. Filling in bank account numbers, processing paperwork, creating closing documents. Monotonous, repetitive work. And honestly, Sarah didn’t blame her team for being disengaged. Voluntary turnover was high. Energy was low. People were showing up, checking the box, and going home.
Then Sarah attended a leadership training and heard about a manager who had completely transformed their team’s key metrics, not by changing the work, but by changing the meaning behind it.
Sarah decided to give it a shot.
The next day, almost on impulse, a thought hit her: “The documents my team creates make dreams happen for families.” So she texted a few loan officers and asked them to send pictures of clients signing their closing documents.
A few days later, her phone buzzed. It was a photo of a single mom, her young son on her lap, with the message: “You made a dream become a reality, her first home.”
That was it.
Sarah ran to her team and showed them the picture. Almost instantly, something shifted in the room. The energy changed. So they printed the photo and put it on the wall. Then another came in. And another. Before long, they had a wall with the words “Dreams Become Reality” surrounded by hundreds of photos of smiling families, a daily and visible reminder of the purpose behind every document they processed.
The results? Within a year, retention increased by 45%, and their engagement score rose by 35%. Same work. Completely different outcomes. She figured out a principle from Accelerate Leadership:
People persevere and perform best because of purpose not pay.
Sarah’s story isn’t just inspiring, it’s necessary. Only 21% of employees globally feel engaged at work, and the cost of that disengagement is staggering. And the problem runs deeper than the workplace. Author Arthur Brooks says that “Many professionals under 30 struggle with finding meaning in their life.” He brings up an important point, because work can provide meaning.
McKinsey research revealed a stark purpose gap: 85% of executives say they can live their purpose at work, while only 15% of frontline workers and managers feel the same. The people closest to the work feel furthest from its meaning. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a leadership gap.
Think about two employees doing the exact same job. Same tasks, same pay, same hours. One is disengaged, going through the motions and counting the hours. The other is energized, invested, and proud of what they do. What’s the difference?
A manager acting like a leader.
One manager handed them a job description. The leader connected their work to something that matters. That connection between daily tasks and deeper purpose is what separates teams that merely function from teams that truly perform.
This is the part most managers miss. They assume meaning is found, not created or connected. They think employees either care or they don’t. But meaning isn’t a personality trait. It’s a leadership responsibility.
Purpose at work isn't found, it's created or connected through leaders.
Leaders who connect work to meaning don’t do it with a one-time speech or company-wide initiatives. They do it in small, consistent, intentional moments.
They tell the story behind the work. Not just what the team does, but who it affects and why it matters. Sarah didn’t redesign her team’s workflow. She just showed them a picture of a mom and her son holding a key to their first home.
They make the impact visible because stories stick and facts fade. Whether it’s customer feedback, a photo on a wall, or a thank-you note read aloud in a team meeting, great leaders find ways to bring the results of the work back to the people doing it.
They connect individual roles to the bigger mission. Every person on the team should be able to answer the question: “Why does what I do matter?” If they can’t, that’s not their failure. That’s the leader’s.
Before your next team meeting, ask yourself: does every person on my team know the why behind their work?
If the answer is no, use the purpose formula: We do X in order to achieve y for z. Your purpose is = “in order to achieve y.
The paycheck is important. It’s meaningful. But it covers the hands. It doesn’t get the heart. And it’s the heart that shows up early, stays late, and cares about doing the work right.
That’s what meaning does. And unlocking it is not HR’s job, or the CEO’s job, or a training program’s job.
That’s your job.
Your Next Level of Performance: If you’re leading a team or organization of high performers and want to challenge their thinking and elevate their next level of performance, reply “workshop” and I’ll share how we’re helping organizations do exactly that.
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About the Author: John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft and The Sales Infrastructure. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best and the Optimistic Outlook.
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