What Drives Great Leaders Forward

At Selion Global, we work with senior leaders navigating a landscape filled with competing demands: board meetings, investor calls, global travel, and deadlines that never quite end. And yet, beneath the noise, a deeper, more persistent question is always present: what is the meaning of work?

Alain de Botton captures a paradox many leaders know well. We long for rest. But when stillness arrives, it unsettles us. Our minds, wired for momentum, don’t quite know what to do with a pause. Without work, without the next challenge, we find ourselves face to face with something deeper - and more unsettling. The meaning we draw from work shapes not just fulfilment for ourselves, but the cultures we build, the decisions we make, and the legacies we leave behind.

Work stands for much more than a mere function. After many conversations with executives over the years, I have come to see it as a framework for belonging. A mirror for what we value, and how we choose to show up.

Research supports this: Gallup, McKinsey, others - they all point to the same thing. Individuals who connect with purpose in their work are more engaged, more resilient, and more creative. And this is true for teams and for leaders alike.

When leaders are anchored in what they build, their organisations feel it. Conviction shows up in decisions. In presence. In tone. It signals that work is a shared endeavour. And in our time today, where attention scatters easily, distracted by so much noise, and trust feels fragile, leadership grounded in purpose sends a steady signal.

Beyond Busyness

It is surprisingly easy to fill every hour. But activity doesn’t equal meaning. Across countless conversations with exceptional leaders, one challenge comes up again and again: staying intentional.

Productivity culture has taught us to equate worth with output. But leadership demands a different lens: impact over activity.

Thinkers like Cal Newport talk about the value of deep work as a focused, thoughtful effort, as a counterbalance to surface-level busyness. The same goes for organisations. The most enduring companies are the ones that channel their energy deliberately, aligning actions with what truly matters.

For leaders, this calls for discernment: knowing what deserves attention and what doesn’t.

Purpose as a Leadership Imperative

Purpose isn’t a statement on a wall. It’s a way of leading.

Research in positive psychology shows individuals who see their work as part of something larger sustain energy longer, inspire others more deeply, and navigate uncertainty with greater steadiness. Purpose acts as ballast. It holds leaders steady when markets shift, when headlines pull focus, when the next disruption looms.

We see this in leaders like Satya Nadella, who reframed Microsoft’s mission around empowerment, despite its highly successful products. We see it in companies that define success beyond quarterly returns, choosing to build trust, loyalty, and long-term value.

Leadership, at its best, draws strength from something deeper than numbers.

Alain de Botton’s meditation reflects that we are not simply driven by deadlines and demands. We are animated by the search for meaning.

And while work may never fully resolve that search, it gives it form. And we want to believe, momentum and direction.

Perhaps leadership is not so much about solving the restlessness. It may be about learning to carry it well.

The leaders who endure are those willing to step back, to recalibrate. In those spaces of reflection, they reconnect with what fuels them. And return with deeper intent.

For those who lead, and for those shaping the next chapter, the question is still out there: what is all this for?