Sense of Purpose

Great leaders have an undeniable sense of purpose and commitment to what they're doing.

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who published a deeply illuminating book, Man's Search for Meaning. In it, he recounts his experience as a Holocaust prisoner. What he discovered during this horrific stint of his life was that the prisoners who found a sense of meaning to their lives fared much better than those who did not. In his own experience, his will to stay alive due to the love he had for his wife — despite not knowing if she was still alive — gave him a sense of meaning and purpose that couldn't be stripped. As he explains in his book, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

— Winston Churchill

Similarly, great leaders believe their vision of the future is worth implementing — worth it enough to sacrifice, take risks, and do everything in their power to make it materialize. As Churchill said, "success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Great leaders don't lose enthusiasm for the mission of their organization no matter how grave the obstacles because of their abiding sense of purpose.