Purpose and Values

In your leadership journey getting to know yourself and what is truly important to you is a key component of being an effective leader. The more you know yourself the more you are able to communicate to your team and ultimately to your organization what you value and thereby what you stand for.

Two key pieces of knowing yourself are defining your purpose and your values. Purpose is the reason why you do something or defining what is most meaningful for you in terms of your leadership and/or life. For me my purpose statement is "To empower others to transform and grow into their highest potential." It is something that drives me everyday in my work and helps me to focus on what is truly important as I am making decisions in terms of what kind of work I say yes to and what kind of work I say no to. When leaders get clear on their purpose they can then communicate that purpose out to others including their team, boss, and peers to let them know what they are working towards and what truly motivates. If you had to write down your own personal purpose statement what would it be?

Values then are the way that we bring that purpose to life. For me Faith, Family, Integrity, Gratitude, and Caring are the ways that I bring my purpose to life. Values are the things that are most important to you. If you had to pick from a list of 100 values and whittle it down to your top 5, could you do that? That is what I ask leaders to do all of the time. While it is hard in the beginning leaders say it truly forces the leaders to get clear on what matters and how they can focus on truly making bring their purpose to life.

Doing this internal self-reflection work can take some time and iterations can be difficult, but it is so useful in getting clear on what really matters and thereby moving in the direction that is most important to you. True North by Bill George is a great resource to help guide you in this process if you are looking for support. Can you get clear on your purpose and values soon?