Leading With Purpose

Bringing #Purpose to #Leadership

The one thing I love about the leadership units which are unique to all other units, is that they transcend any position you have. It doesn’t matter whether you are a #CEO or on the front lines. Everyone can be a #leader and everyone can implement the skills learnt and be a leader from day 1. Leading with purpose is one of these interesting topics imbedded in most leadership courses, and it's one that is incredibly interesting and confronting. Depending your source of information (of which there is endless available) you can dig through a lot of grey matter, with no direction on how this can benefit you. But it is an induvial #journey that no one else can walk for you.?It requires self-awareness, and can result in challenging internal conflicts however once you find that purpose and act congruently to it and your unique offerings you can begin to exhibit your #authentic leadership style for the benefit of the team, company, yourself and everyone in your life.?

A few key notes from a few of the better articles and books I have read recently. (See below for some great suggestions on texts if you like).

Don’t mistake a cause for a purpose: A cause can be a great thing, and for many it's a tool that allows you to live you purpose but a purpose it is not.

There are many things a purpose is not: A purpose is not the sum of your values, it is a unique expression of your values, it's not your divisional goals, KPI's or prior accomplishments, and you can't be fired from it. Your purpose intersects your causes, #goals, #values and #aspirations and remains 'unchanged' despite your changing passions.

Unconventional Mindset: By finding your purpose, you can begin to work in a unconventional #transformative environment which cultures a #positive #mindset towards learning. One of the many issues with a conventional mindset is the cultures of knowing and control it creates results in top down information flow whilst the real gold nuggets (the information that really makes a difference) flows from the front line up in highly filtered ways depending on the number of hierarchical layers. Unconventional transformative thinking understands that influence flows in all directions - not just from the top down, so it's important to clearly clarify the organisations purpose, and when you think your done in communicating this, you are only just beginning.

Be #authentic, lead with purpose!

References

• Craig, N., & Snook, S. (2014). From Purpose to Impact.?Harvard Business Review,?92(5), 104–.
• Craig, N., & Brown, B. (2018). Leading from purpose. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
• (Chapter 3) Quinn, R. E., & Thakor, A. (2019). The economics of higher purpose : eight counterintuitive steps for creating a purpose-driven organization. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
• Quinn, R. E., & Thakor, A. V. (2018). Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization. Harvard Business Review, 96(4).