Aug 17, 2026 · 24 min · 9 segments
Jim Uhl spent almost 30 years as a police officer before he became a leadership researcher, a Gallup-certified strengths coach, and the Chief Engagement Officer of Breaking the Chain Consulting. Jim…
Jim UhlGuest
William AttawayHost
So the four links as I see it is, that's missing in organizations, first and foremost, is purpose and values.
I think we've done a terrible job in our workplaces of really defining with the utmost clarity, with the utmost precision, um, why do we exist and how are we supposed to behave with one another? And, and, like, a lot of people have mission statements, but I don't know if a lot of people feel like they're on a mission.
Um, and, and, and the goal with a purpose statement is, you know, kind of, you know, why, why do we pop our heads off our, our, our pillows every day? And that I, that, that purpose statement should be short, easily memorized, idealistic and true.
And most importantly, it should be a, it should be purpose that lives from the inside out.
And so what I mean by that is that purpose that we define in our organization should be just as applicable to our brothers and sisters in the workplace as they are to the ones that we're gonna be out there serving, uh, in the real world.
That's what perfectly positions us to where we can go deliver that purpose out into the real world, is when we're delivering it first inside the organization.
Uh, the n- the next link that I would say is missing is we are not strengths-based organizations.
We're focusing on people's weaknesses and deficiencies instead of focusing on what's great and what's right about people.
And not only knowing your own talents and your strengths, um, but those talents and strengths don't become...
Well, they don't mean anything unless you're using them for the benefit and furtherance of other people.
And then when you're showing other people how to use their strengths and positioning them in a place where they can use their talents, that's where organizations start to thrive.
Then also there's that missing link of, of, of appreciation, creating this culture of appreciation.
Not that it's just coming from the top on down, uh, that it's, it's, it's the employees celebrating and appreciating their boss when they do well.
Yes, the boss and the leader should be doing that first and foremost, but it can't just be them.
And then finally, that missing link, um, that I think starts to-- So all those kind of really start to connect us to things.
This is what this last one reconnects us when things don't go well, which is creating a culture of forgiveness.
Um, I spend the vast majority of my time as a leadership consultant and coach helping teams and organizations overcome hurt.
Overcome, you know, uh, trespasses against one another, where there's been transgressions and, and we've just, we've just stepped on each other's toes, and it just-- it seems odd to me that, you know, the workplace is made up of messy, muddy, broken people, and we don't talk about forgiveness in the workplace, let alone how to forgive other people and then how to seek forgiveness.
So the four links as I see it is, that's missing in organizations, first and foremost, is purpose and values.
I think we've done a terrible job in our workplaces of really defining with the utmost clarity, with the utmost precision, um, why do we exist and how are we supposed to behave with one another? And, and, like, a lot of people have mission statements, but I don't know if a lot of people feel like they're on a mission.
Um, and, and, and the goal with a purpose statement is, you know, kind of, you know, why, why do we pop our heads off our, our, our pillows every day? And that I, that, that purpose statement should be short, easily memorized, idealistic and true.
And most importantly, it should be a, it should be purpose that lives from the inside out.
And so what I mean by that is that purpose that we define in our organization should be just as applicable to our brothers and sisters in the workplace as they are to the ones that we're gonna be out there serving, uh, in the real world.
That's what perfectly positions us to where we can go deliver that purpose out into the real world, is when we're delivering it first inside the organization.
Uh, the n- the next link that I would say is missing is we are not strengths-based organizations.
We're focusing on people's weaknesses and deficiencies instead of focusing on what's great and what's right about people.
And not only knowing your own talents and your strengths, um, but those talents and strengths don't become...
Well, they don't mean anything unless you're using them for the benefit and furtherance of other people.
And then when you're showing other people how to use their strengths and positioning them in a place where they can use their talents, that's where organizations start to thrive.
Then also there's that missing link of, of, of appreciation, creating this culture of appreciation.
Not that it's just coming from the top on down, uh, that it's, it's, it's the employees celebrating and appreciating their boss when they do well.
Yes, the boss and the leader should be doing that first and foremost, but it can't just be them.
And then finally, that missing link, um, that I think starts to-- So all those kind of really start to connect us to things.
This is what this last one reconnects us when things don't go well, which is creating a culture of forgiveness.
Um, I spend the vast majority of my time as a leadership consultant and coach helping teams and organizations overcome hurt.
Overcome, you know, uh, trespasses against one another, where there's been transgressions and, and we've just, we've just stepped on each other's toes, and it just-- it seems odd to me that, you know, the workplace is made up of messy, muddy, broken people, and we don't talk about forgiveness in the workplace, let alone how to forgive other people and then how to seek forgiveness.
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