How to define and align employees to the soul of their role

Executive overview

Employees frequently say they don't know what their job is — even when it's documented, discussed, and tied to KPIs. The gap isn't information; it's that managers articulate the tasks but never the deeper purpose the role serves.

Soul of the role is the missing piece: the emotional ownership, strategic focus, and decision-making authority that a role demands — not the inbox it generates. Defining it clearly makes feedback, accountability, and delegation all easier.

Managers delegate work but not ownership — soul of the role is how you delegate ownership.

The problem managers don't see

• Employees describe their role in terms of tasks and deliverables
• Managers mentally expect strategic ownership, vigilance, and contextual judgment
• Neither side articulates this gap, so both feel frustrated
• Job descriptions and KPIs capture the linear work — not the soul
• Surveying thousands of employees, the most common answer: "I don't really know why my job exists"

Why depersonalising the role helps

• Focusing on the person obscures what the role actually needs
• Step back: if you have these goals, what do the roles around you need to provide?
• Assess each role on its own terms, then have an honest conversation with the person in it
• Depersonalisation makes feedback easier — you're comparing performance to a clear purpose, not a vague impression
• It also sharpens hiring: instead of listing tasks, you identify the type of thinker the role requires

The four questions for defining soul of the role

Work through these yourself first, then align with your employee.

1. What is the purpose of the role?

• Push past "help people do X" — that's too generic
• Ask: what does this person need to obsess about so you don't have to?
• Flip it: if they don't own it, you'll be pulled in to do it yourself
• A strong purpose statement has emotion — it should produce an "oh, I get it" reaction
• Example reframe: not "help managers lead better" but "be the person who listens to managers' needs and offers context on what it takes to succeed in the modern world"

2. What makes someone successful in this role?

• Focus on behaviours and how someone shows up — not metrics
• Metrics tempt you to jump to outcomes before identifying the methods that drive them
• Ask: how does someone need to organise themselves to fulfil this purpose?
• Behaviours and methods first; metrics follow from those

3. What are the three priorities for this role in the next 90 days?

• 90 days is long enough to do something meaningful, short enough to stay relevant
• For people performing well, priorities aren't always improvements — sometimes it's celebration, career development, or deeper conversations
• Use 90-day cycles to focus one-on-ones: review progress at the end, adjust or extend
• Even mature, successful employees benefit from this question — it surfaces blind spots and keeps them engaged
• Avoid framing priorities as wholesale metrics targets; focus on specific behaviours or habits to shift

4. What are their decision-making rights?

• Think in types of decisions, not specific decisions
• Clarify: where does this person have full authority? Where do they have input? Where do they only get to advocate?
• Be honest — even "you don't have decision-making rights here" is valuable clarity
• People rarely know where they stand; most feel they have less authority than their title implies
• Clarity on this makes people feel trusted, engaged, and invested in their work

Connecting soul of the role to accountability

• Once soul of the role is defined, the accountability dial conversations have context
• Feedback becomes selective and purposeful — tied to the purpose, not to everything happening at once
• Use positive examples: "We talked about the soul of the role, and that was a great moment where you did exactly that"
• Without soul of the role, feedback floats — there's no anchor for what actually matters

Sustaining alignment over time

• Revisit the four questions at each 90-day cycle
• Steady-state items remain; the focus question is: what could be better, or what deserves more attention now?
• For high performers, this is how you keep them challenged without manufacturing problems
• Regular one-on-ones tied to soul of the role replace vague check-ins with meaningful dialogue