Purpose: Realizing Your Leadership Calling
What is your purpose? Not just as a leader, but what is your life’s purpose grounded in your unique combination of gifts, needs and perspectives?
Think of your leadership journey as grounded in four fundamental pillars—Purpose, Prosperity, Joy, and Freedom—with the first pillar, “purpose,” serving as your why. By clarifying your purpose or “why” and aligning your behaviors to support it, you can lead more effectively, connect more deeply, and open the door for others to do the same.
Defining your purpose provides clarity and helps you make difficult decisions. For example, if you were the CEO of an auto manufacturer, should you prioritize an expensive recall or keep investing in future technologies? If your purpose is to maintain a high standard of quality and design, the answer is obvious. You need to fix the current quality issue to be true to your brand's foundation. Having a clear purpose makes it a simple choice.
Organizations that prioritize purposeful leadership are more likely to empower teams to achieve business goals efficiently. Helping others find personal meaning in their work supports improved individual and organizational outcomes. As the Center for Creative Leadership noted in a recent article, Purpose in Leadership, connecting people to purpose is a vital leadership skill. Organizations that ensure their leaders do so skillfully have an edge. They are better able to attract, engage, and retain talent. The foundation of this effort starts with articulating your own purpose.
Oprah Winfrey says her purpose or “why” is to "inspire, teach, and lead people to be the best of themselves." She believes purpose is not just one big thing, but rather the thread that connects all the dots of life, bringing value and meaning. Her commitment to empowering those around her has defined her leadership legacy and created a ripple effect of positive change.
All leaders create a ripple effect and leave a legacy. If we don’t take the inner journey to understand our purpose, we leave our role as a leader to be shaped by others. Learning to lead ourselves allows us to lead others better.
Unlocking Your Purpose
Embracing our purpose starts with examining what drives us and aligning it to how we live and how we lead. It’s an exercise that can bring greater professional success and personal well-being.
Here are the three key components to leading with purpose.
1. Discover Your "Why"
Your journey to purposeful leadership begins with deep self-reflection to understand your purpose. All other actions are built on this foundation.
Reflect on Your Values: Identify the core principles that guide your decisions and actions. What are your non-negotiables? What are the things that are core to who you are and how you operate, that have not changed over time?
Assess Your Strengths and Passions: Consider what you are good at and what you enjoy doing. Get feedback from people you trust. Reflect on this feedback and how it aligns with the experience you want others to have of you.
Envision Your Impact: Consider your legacy. What is the example you want to set? What is the difference you want to make in your team, organization, or community?
2. Live Your Purpose
Purposeful leadership is not just about understanding your personal values; it's about using these insights as a "north star" to guide your everyday actions and decisions.
Organizationally Align: Weave personal and organizational purpose together. They may not be 100% the same. How do they fit together? How do you demonstrate behaviors that reflect the organization’s values, and show personal authenticity?
Connect Your Actions: Link your daily actions and behaviors with your purpose. Ask yourself, “Am I focused on the right things?” “Will spending my time this way fulfill my purpose?” “Am I operating in alignment with my values?”
Expand and Enhance: We don’t stop learning and growing. Commit to continually refining and deepening how you live and lead with purpose.
3. Multiply Your Impact
Cultivate a Meaningful Culture: Share your purpose and encourage your team to discover their own. Share your personal story. This can foster an environment where you embody your individual purpose in a way that is clearly connected to shared values and goals. Then allow others to do the same.
Be a Role Model: Allow others to hold you accountable. Demonstrate commitment to purpose through your actions, especially in tough times.
Understanding your purpose is about building a bridge between your core values and how you behave. It is a dynamic process that requires consistent, conscious effort in daily life.
Realizing your leadership calling starts with understanding your purpose, aligning it with your intentions as a leader, and, ultimately, driving your actions. When you operate with a clear sense of purpose, decisions are more thoughtful, and your actions become more meaningful. You drive results and sustain your authentic self. As importantly, you and those you lead will thrive professionally and personally.
My purpose is to help people understand who they truly are, and to empower them to live from that purpose. As a coach, sometimes I’m just helping people to get out of their own way. As a leader, I’m helping team members to grow, deliver exceptional results, and recognize the value they bring to achieving those results.
What is your purpose? What is your leadership calling? Contact me for a 30-minute consultation to discuss unlocking your purpose and aligning your behaviors to support it.
In future issues, we’ll dive deeper into the Deliberate Path with practical strategies and insights, along with real-life examples from leaders I’ve worked with, to help you lead in today’s complex world.
Stay tuned!
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