Harmonization of Personal and Organizational Purpose

Examples of successful purpose-driven organizations show that corporate and personal purposes both play a crucial role in building high levels of unity, which arises from a genuine connection between the individual and the organization. Built upon recent research on plural identity and authenticity at work, we analyze the essence of this connection along with the processes that ensure it remains vibrant over time. A two-sided view of purpose is developed, suggesting the harmonization of personal and organizational purposes across two basic dimensions: purpose fluidity and purpose synergy. The first is related to the exchange of meaningful representations between personal and organizational purposes. The second relates to the way personal and organizational purposes partly or fully integrate with each other.