Finding Your Purpose

It’s a time of change right now, of unexpected pivoting to meet the changing demands of the new agile world we live in. It feels much like the world is one of those tiny, decorative snow globes which has been picked up, vigorously shaken, upsetting the natural order of everything we know and changing the way we live, work and interact with one another.

Conversations have naturally progressed over the past few months – away from the shock of ‘What’s happening?’ to challenging ourselves to re-find our purpose, both personally and from an organisational perspective too. As the focus has shifted for many organisations, the goals and connection to a common purpose have also changed, leaving many employees (and leaders) reassessing their why. Why their role is so important for the organisation, how their role connects to the overall strategic purpose and how they can meaningfully better connect day to day actions to the overarching goal. It’s tricky when the goalposts are moved so frequently – with the changing times of commercial markets, with organisational restructures and with the realignment of targets, comes a redefined need for clarity and focus.

Finding balance within this quicksand type landscape is critical to maintaining equilibrium and momentum in our new normal. Understanding your purpose, your why, will become your North Star. As the astronomers amongst us might know, the North Star faces the axis of the Earth almost directly. It remains a constant, never rising or setting and remains in nearly the same spot above the northern hemisphere year-round. All the other stars circle around the North Star, which remains a constant presence, a guiding light and source of navigation. By finding your metaphorical north star in the business, you find your purpose. You’ll start to understand your connection to the business and how you contribute to the broader team. As your purpose (your North star) doesn’t alter, this can become the epicentre of your working life – the little figurine in your snow globe which doesn’t move when shaken repeatedly.

Empowered by a stable purpose, you’ll feel connected to colleagues around you, focused on aligning your work to your purpose and less impacted by the constant flurry of changes to the snowstorm happening in your metaphorical globe. A recent Forbes study shows that engaged teams show around a 21% increase in profitability showing that by living by your purpose and showing up each day with passion and energy, you’re not just benefitting your own career and wellness but the bottom line of the organisation. The positive indicators are all there to show that if leaders help their team members to find their purpose, to believe their work is important to the greater goal, the results will follow.

Finding your purpose, both as individuals and as an organisation is so much more than just an abstract statement. It’s a constant anchor which can inspire change and innovation and which creates value far beyond that of just aligning to business strategy. Employees who feel as though their work is meaningful will have an innate desire to strive for the best, to embrace transformation and not fear it. Leaders should strive to help set a purposeful company culture, one which openly and authentically encourages and nurtures employee’s desire to feel wanted, valued and heard.