Understanding Our Clear Purpose

The occasional compliment and the (now far less occasional) chance to observe the impact of we’ve had in helping someone navigate the roadblocks that come with a any leadership position as they climb their respective career ladder has gone a long way in providing us with confirmation that the purpose we’re working toward makes a measurable difference in those leaders’ lives. As I mentioned before, we all want to be part of something that matters! But that alone hasn’t been the thing that’s helped us know we’re chasing our true purpose…

Through this entire process of looking at the importance of leading with a clear purpose, one that drives us as leaders and a purpose each of the team members counting on us can connect with, I’ve referenced personal experiences as well as the mentors who helped me through those experiences, and how they played a role in shaping who I am today. I often think about how much different my life would be if any one of those things would have played out in some other way; if one of those mentors weren’t there or if they didn’t have the exact skill set that I needed to draw from at the time. Not only have each of the people I’ve mentioned, Cindy being the most influential of them all, made a tremendous impact on any success I’ve achieved to this point, they’ve each been a critical part of anything I’ve been able to pass on to others!

As we started down this path, I mentioned that we’re often asked why we do what we do. I generally answer that question by sharing something about how hard we’ve worked to develop the skills we needed to earn influence in positions where we were required to get results with the help of others who we had no positional authority over. Then I explain that we do what we do today so the people we work with won’t have to stumble over all the same roadblocks we did. While that’s a big part of why we do what we do, I’ve realized that this isn’t close to being our entire purpose. As I think about the ripple effect - how something someone else did to help me enables me to support another person - I see how the work we do today to help organizations increase profitability by building better leaders doesn’t stop there! So much of what we do is focused on building stronger leadership cultures within those organizations. We do indeed help the individual develop skills that will enhance their own career, but those same skills have a lasting impact on each person they touch - and each person those people touch after that! A supervisor may only have a team of ten or so employees, but each of those employees have families that are counting on them. And what about those employees any of those supervisors may empower to lead a team later on?

Our purpose has evolved significantly since we got married in April of 2000 and were doing everything we could to raise our kids. Truth be told, I couldn’t have detailed the purpose we’re working toward today just a few short years ago. And as sure as I am now about the clear purpose that drives us, I’m equally sure that the things driving me won’t be the exact things that drive you. You need to identify your own clear purpose, so that will be the thing we work through in this process; a call to action, if you will…