As individuals, a sense of purpose stems from a clear understanding of our unique gifts and calling.  Understanding how we are made is key to discovering what we’re made to do.  Every person is unique and singular.  They possess a gift that no one else possesses and their responsibility – and greatest joy – is to identify and activate it.

Articles on Giftedness, Core Values & Purpose (♥ = GL Favorites) :

• A Recipe for Perfection by Tahl Raz
  Frommer's calls the Inn at Little Washington one of America's finest country inns.  Few restaurants -- indeed, few businesses of any kind -- seem so adept at fulfilling their customer's every need.
   
• Are You a Slave to Your Paycheck? by Richard Leider
  There are millions of vocationally joyless people in this country - people who are deaf to their true calling.  If you're thinking about making a job or career change, here's a one-minute formula to help get you started: G + P + V = your calling. The G stands for your gifts; the P is for passion; and the V equals values.
   
• Are You Deciding On Purpose? an interview with Richard Leider
  At the heart of Leider's approach is a belief that each individual is born with a reason for being and that life is a quest to discover that purpose.  He shares his "laws" for making decisions on purpose.
   
• Goodbye Command and Control by Margaret Wheatley ♥
  The primary task of being a leader is to make sure the organization knows itself.  That is, we must realize that our task is to call people together often, so that everyone gains clarity about who we are, who we’ve just become, who we still want to be.
   
• Destiny and the Job of the Leader by Alan M. Webber ♥
  A company's destiny is a matter of purpose, an expression of why it exists.  Companies that endure have a noble purpose.  A leader's journey starts by looking inward to understand, "Why am I here?" and "What is it that I'm here to do?"
   
• How to Play to Your Strengths by Laura Morgan Roberts, Gretchen Spreitzer, Jane Dutton, Robert Quinn, Emily Heaphy, and Brianna Barker
  You may have more to gain by developing your gifts and leveraging your natural skills than by trying to repair your weaknesses.  Here is a systematic way to discover who you are at your very best.
   
• In Praise of the Purple Cow by Seth Godin
  Playing it safe.  Following the rules.  They seem like the best ways to avoid failure.  Alas, that pattern is awfully dangerous.  In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing.  In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.  Be remarkable!
   
• Is Your Company Up to Speed? from Fast Company
  Building successful companies that create value for all their stakeholders and that operate in ways that bring out the best in employees is not just smart business - it's also an obligation of leadership.  How would you answer these 10 questions?
   
• Managing Oneself by Peter F. Drucker ♥
  Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves - their strengths, their values, and how they best perform.
   
• Mission as an Organizing Principle by C. William Pollard ♥
  The job of the leader is to articulate a mission that brings deeper meaning to work, and to assure that the organization’s mission is in alignment with people’s own growth and development.  A leader must champion the company’s mission and, more important, live it. 
   
• Reinvent Your Company by Polly LaBarre
  Doing strategy is ultimately about engaging human beings to take a leap.  The animating question is, "What will you become?"  That means unearthing what's true to the company's core ... it's "North Star."
   
• The Growth Imperative by Noel M. Tichy
  The desire to grow forces us to look at our organization from the outside in - focusing on what our clients and the current business environment demand of us.  Too many organizations, unfortunately, are managed from the inside out, putting their own practices, policies, and priorities ahead of the needs of clients.
   
• The Journey to Authenticity by Bill George ♥
  Authentic leaders genuinely desire to serve others through their leadership.  They are more interested in empowering the people they lead to make a difference than they are in power, money, or prestige for themselves.  They are as guided by qualities of the heart, by passion and compassion, as they are by qualities of the mind.
   
• The Strengths Revolution by Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton ♥
  A great organization understands that each employee is different and capitalizes on these differences.  It watches for clues to natural talents, then positions and develops each employee so that his or her talents are transformed into bona fide strengths.
   
• What's Your Life-Worth? by John M. Busacker
  Score yourself on ten life dimensions.  "The trouble is that, as modern people, we have too much to live with and too little to live for.  For many of us, in the midst of material plenty (i.e. net worth), we have spiritual poverty (i.e. life worth)." - Os Guinness, author of The Call.
   
• Will Companies Ever Learn? by Alan M. Webber ♥
  Learning can't occur with a command-and-control style of leadership.  At the same time, learning can't occur without some kind of direction.  This direction occurs in companies that are explicit about their vision, mission, and values.

More Articles and Resources:

• Articles on Servant & Transformational Leadership

• Articles on Emotional Intelligence & Employee Engagement

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