How to have purpose when you're in a corporate role

The conversations I have with my clients are not just about what career move is next or what kind of business they’ll start, but also how to live and work with purpose and meaning.

Like many people I work with, for a long time I had the view that contribution should be synonymous with self-sacrifice and that the people who did 'purpose' best, generally shunned wealth and success. I wasn’t sure it was possible to make a genuine contribution to society at the same time as living an abundant and beautiful life.

These days I think about it differently.

The shift came partly from a conversation I had with a client who works in a corporate role that on face value is about as far from purposeful as you could imagine. After an awful accident, she began to question the work she was doing.

She started to explore alternatives and while her chosen options appeared more altruistic, she also had some reservations. She loved many aspects of her existing career and she had plans to build a financially secure future for herself so she could start a family. And when we looked at her strengths, we agreed that her gifts are actually what the corporate world needs more of.

She has a great capacity for insight and intuition and an innate strength of leadership; she has a desire to lead by developing and mentoring others rather than holding onto power; she's naturally light-hearted so she brings joy into a room; she's a brilliant strategic thinker; she's inclusive, collaborative, empathic, generous and kind. And she has a genuine desire to make a positive difference in the world.

These are the qualities we need in our leaders.

We talked about what would happen if every person of this calibre walked away from big business. What hope would we have of creating more creative, conscious corporations?

When we revisited the conversation of purpose, I invited her to ask herself this question.

How can I use my gifts to make a difference in other people's lives, doing what I do right now?

We don't always need to leave the roles that grant us the earning capacity to live comfortable lives. Instead, we can commit to creating change in the places we find ourselves every day. It's often here that we can make the most significant difference.

Can you make a difference in your workplace today?

• Be considerate of the people around you. Offer support to a colleague who is struggling, take the time to listen and ask more open questions.
• Speak up about something within your workplace that you believe to be unethical or unfair.
• Have a difficult conversation, in a sensitive way.
• Refuse to fuel any kind of negativity in your workplace and invite others to do the same.
• Launch a meaningful corporate social responsibility program.
• Share a portion of your salary by contributing financially to causes you care about.
• If you can spare the time, volunteer too. If you're already really stretched, keep it in mind for a time when life is less busy