The Thing about Purpose...

Erin Beamer is a Leadership Ascent Coach/Facilitator, an Executive Leadership Coach for Center for Creative Leadership, and has been the owner of Autumn Consulting since 1997. She provides executive coaching, facilitation, and consulting services.

The Thing about Purpose

Almost two decades ago I was living with a desire to uncover a deeper purpose for my life. My career thus far had been interesting and satisfying, with many successes, and I enjoyed the benefits of it in my personal life. I’d occasionally bring up the topic of purpose with others and mostly got blank looks, as if I’d become an apparition whose mouth was moving without sound. There weren’t many books about it and even fewer people I ran across who knew what to recommend. Even recently, after several years of allowing my life to be led by a sense of purpose, a dear friend who has known about my journey to live with purpose, referred to it as simply wanting more satisfying work. I was both surprised and not surprised to realize she had misunderstood why I’d been making different work and life choices.

Many people live their whole life without questing for a deeper sense of purpose – and for many good reasons. For some, family is so unquestionably paramount, the need for further purpose doesn’t surface. For others the focus on survival, or the grind of getting by, consumes one’s energy. For many others in our country, the intensity of active careers and enjoying the fruits of financial abundance are enough. One of the very things the U.S. stands for in the world is opportunity to pursue a better life, to rise above poverty, and explicitly the recognition of the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness – we have extensive and engaging opportunity for pleasure, activity, and achievement. Thus, for any of these reasons, it’s easy to understand why many don’t heed or hear an inner voice speaking to a calling.

So why consider purpose?

Purpose is about the why. So this question asks about the why of the why. We’re talking about identifying, uncovering, or clarifying the reason something is done, created, or exists. Purpose is about the point – the point of what we’re doing, why we or something else exists. We’re talking about identifying and keeping the “why” in mind, so that all actions can be intentionally aligned with that. As leaders, this matters.

Purpose matters while leading ourselves, leading others, and leading organizations. While leading our own lives, living with purpose and meaning contributes to happiness. For some, this is a deeply felt profound experience of purpose, i.e., why we’re living this life. On a simpler scale, a sense of meaning can be experienced through anything that is significant or relevant to who we are personally – something aligned with core values, talents, or strengths, and most often when also aligned with something bigger than ourselves, something that matters. While moving beyond ourselves, to leading others, defining clear purpose provides an exceptional motivator for our people. While leading organizations, clear purpose heightens marketplace success and drives efficient resource allocation.

So what gets in the way?

At a very base level, what gets in the way can be fear. In general when we experience or live with fear, our focus narrows, rather than allowing the expansiveness required for considering purpose. At another level, it’s the addiction to the busy, busy, busyness of modern life, or any form of addiction that numbs the mind. Addiction keeps us attentive to the next shiny object, rather than on the valuable or important.

What gets in the way also includes living an unexamined life, i.e., a life without questioning, living too much by others’ expectations, or in reactive mode, rather than searching for something deeper. And so often, this is a reflection of a lack of reflection. Our media tends to focus on the getting of more, and on the superficial and uninformed. Identifying deeper purpose requires reflection. Whether we’re talking life purpose, project purpose, or organizational purpose, it requires thought, deeper consideration, and real examination of what we’re doing and why.

And thus we get to two more things that get in the way of focusing on purpose: One is that we may not know how. Two is that pushing this path requires some risk - the risk that comes from going against the flow of the crowd, or giving up something, or standing up for something. Clarifying purpose means saying yes to some things and the discipline to say no to other things. Both the issues of know-how and risk can be addressed by looking for role models and others who have led with purpose. And both can be addressed by using skilled facilitators, teachers, consultants, and coaches who understand the power of purpose, as well as processes and great questions that guide the way, and who can assist with honing the strength and skills required to lead with purpose.

Here are some people who lead, and organizations that are led, with purpose:

• Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head as she stood up for girls’ right to an education; she lived, and has since won a Nobel Peace Prize for her continued advocacy.

• The U.S. Founding Fathers risked everything (death, imprisonment, loss of property) by writing and proclaiming the Declaration of Independence.

• BMW consistently proclaims their purpose of delivering the ultimate driving machine.

• A subsidiary of ING developed the best transactional system and process in its industry by identifying,

and staying true to, the number one operational thing they wanted to create.

• Apple Inc. has become wealthy and the leader in its chosen marketplace by being true to its purpose.

(See HBR article: Steve Jobs and the Purpose of the Corporation, 12Oct2011)

• AnalumnaoftheLeadershipAscentprogramcontributedtothecompetitiveadvantageofher

company by clarifying and driving its safety mission.

• Individuals I know have taken on a purpose related to being the conscience of the organization, being

the grandparent in charge of adventure, being a champion for real food, bringing eastern healing

practices to the West, and advocating for paradigm shifts in our society’s institutions.

• The purpose for all the Leadership Ascent Programs is to deliver experiences that evolve leaders.

• I facilitate positive change – through coaching, facilitation, consulting, and how I show up in the world

What about you?

Where in your life, and in your world, would benefit from clearer purpose? Where, for you, do the benefits of leading with purpose out-weigh its costs in energy and risk? What do you need to take this on at a more powerful level?

#Purpose #Vision #Clarity #Goals