I am finding in my coaching practice that, as clients contemplate their futures, they want whatever they do to be aligned with their purpose. This makes intuitive sense but that intention usually comes to a grinding halt when someone is then asked the simple question “What is your purpose?” The answer is usually a long, circuitous description of what they like and don’t like, but very few people can express their purpose in a clear, concise and compelling way. If you are considering a new career or future in any way, here is one of the challenges you may encounter, and how a short, inspiring articulation of your purpose can boost your confidence and bring clarity to your thinking.
Years ago, a CEO I know was looking for her next challenge. She joined her current company when it was floundering and did such a good job in righting the ship that there were no major challenges left for her. The company was essentially running itself.
A funny thing happened on the way to her next CEO role. She started to doubt her ability. She knew she could lead her current company with both hands tied behind her back because it was familiar. In the past, she had successfully run other companies and divisions within companies. And prior to that, she learned the value of intelligence and hard work from a mother who had also been a successful CEO in a time when there were precious few women in that role.
As she looked to the outside world for a new company to run, her familiarity with her current position acted like an emotional anchor on her confidence. She knew that to doubt herself was irrational but she couldn’t silence the dialogue in her mind that she might not be good enough, that she was a pretender waiting to be exposed. It didn’t matter that she had been extremely successful many times over at every personal and professional quality in herself she was now questioning.
In her time as the CEO of this company, she had come to define herself as her position. Her entire being and self-perception had come to be defined by her leadership of this company. This, of course, is the tail wagging the dog. Who you are should be defined independently of your career and then your career should be an extension of your personality. In reality, it’s not quite that black-and-white but you get the drift. So she embarked on a Personal Blueprint to regain independent control over how she defines who she is.
In the course of the conversations in her Blueprint, it became very apparent that she needed to clean up a mess in order to be inspired and fulfilled in a leadership role. She loved having to rebuild the collaboration and focus of a leadership team. She loved really digging into the business drivers to figure out which strategic levers to pull. And she loved motivating a company culture to work together towards a common purpose.
That conversation led us to the expression “Leading safely through the minefield”. She loves joining a company that has lost its way, determining the way out of the mess and then leading the employees safely through the mine field to the other side. This resonated with her as her Purpose –7 words or less – because it was something she always knew about herself but could never articulate. It allowed her to express her full value so powerfully, it inspired others and boosted her confidence.
Now that she could put it into words, it gave her a clear filter to assist in all of her important decision-making. She just had to ask herself: is this decision I am making or this direction I am taking consistent with “leading safely through the minefield”? If it is, there is a higher probability of a successful outcome because it will be aligned with who she is and what inspires her. And if something doesn’t pass the minefield sniff test, it should probably be avoided because it is more likely she will be uninterested in the challenge.
It takes a constellation of personal and interpersonal skills to “lead safely through the minefield”. She has to be able to manage incredible pressure. She has to have a clear focus. And she has be able to convince people to join her because they can only succeed together. All of these qualities and more are triggered intuitively in the minds of listeners because they already know they are the types of skills necessary to “lead safely through the minefield”.
“Leading safely through the minefield” immediately started to silence the voice of self-doubt in her mind. She was able to articulate, to herself and others, her full value in a clear, concise and compelling way, one that inspired her and made her proud. She was able to look out at all of the troubled companies in the marketplace and know with confidence that they were leadership opportunities that would make full use of her skills, and that would both fulfill and inspire her.
Defining your purpose in a clear, concise and compelling way – in 7 words or less – is a foundational element of my coaching. I believe you need to know your purpose first, in order to accurately and inspiringly define where you are going and how you will get there.