The Three Questions to Build a Purpose-Driven Career

Knowing your calling is an asset. Following it an even bigger one.

The article orginally appeared as a TEDx Berlin talk.

"What if the world was holding its breath?waiting for you to take the place that only you can fill?"?-David Whyte?

I am inspired by this quote. Because?I have been battling with these questions.??

Is?wanting?a purpose-driven career in times of turmoil?just pure entitlement??Is it narcissistic to want to have meaningful work? Or blatantly na?ve to pursue it??

You might consider me as lucky. Because whenever I didn’t follow my calling my life became unbearably painful.?It?meant my life was always full of meaning. But?it also meant that I?spent a lot of time being utterly unhappy.?

And when?back in the days?I was at the crossroads of?returning to?management consulting, after a 100k?elite?MBA,?doubling down?on?our long-term hobby?project of?building?a?network for purpose-driven leaders?of my generation?felt?like a direct ticket to stupidity land.??

Today?–?and?sure?I wouldn’t be here otherwise?-?I feel, it wasn’t.?I will never regret living through the fear of losing our business through COVID. Or the tears of joy of being?flashmobbed?by my team and 40 alumni on?one of our reunions.??

Hence, I?wanna?give some?solid?reasons why pursuing meaningful work is neither narcissistic?nor na?ve.?And leave us with?3?questions to help identify what that could be?for each of us.?

From the perspective of an organization?a fulfilled workforce is overwhelmingly good.??

World-wide the?top?quartile of?organisations?with the most engaged employees outperforms?the bottom quartile?in almost any area:?Their profitability?and sales are both about a fifth higher. Fluctuation?up to two thirds lower.?Absenteism?down by?41% and safety incidents even?by?70%.?

But is?“trying to be fulfilled at work” also a good idea?for?humans??Or are we?potentially?better off to opt for the simpler, less demanding?route of?limiting our relationship with work to one of mere provision???

After all, especially for those with a pretty good career following?our calling means to put our hearts at risk. Failure in passion-driven work feels worse than just a technical malfunction, but a kind of failure in our quintessence.?So?it wise to prioritize purpose even over money???

First of?all?let’s admit that?above?that magic and much quoted cut off point?at around?75000?US Dollars?per year?more money doesn’t make us significantly happier. However not having enough money?for sure makes people unhappy.?So far so good.?You knew that before.?

But?let’s?– just for fun -?filter out?entrepreneurs or those engaged in entrepreneurial activity:?Not only are?they?healthier?– for instance in terms of obesity,?diabetes?and life expectancy. They are also happier.?In comparison to employees?they?– across the globe –?report higher levels of?professional satisfaction, relationship quality, self-acceptance?and – wait for it – work life balance!?

What is more, life satisfaction grows over time?up to an extent where – as an established entrepreneur – you are?significantly happier than?your employee counterparts?pretty much regardless of your income.??

Last but not least:?On average?we?ALL?value purpose over money.?Even your parents.?As we age “meaning” becomes an increasingly bigger contributor to workplace happiness.?Whilst “money” declines.?This?is by far not an invention of the millennial generation.??

I think?in today’s world for many of us, the degree to which?we?know and?follow our?calling?wisely, the degree to which?we?master the art of making money with our life purpose?is?pretty much?decisive as to whether you are living a great life or?just a life.??

"Knowing your calling is an asset. Following it an even bigger one."

Having worked with hundreds of millennial change makers,?I found there are?three?main?questions?-or let’s say question?areas?-?we have to get aligned on?in order to build truly purpose-driven?work.??

So?get out your pen and paper and join me on this?experiment, this?adventure into?your own?matrix, that software that each of us has created within their own head.??

For the first question I will invite you to sit down, close your eyes. And imagine a situation where?all the annoyances, maybe the small and big fears?or moments of sadness?of the?past weeks just magically disappear.?So that a large sense of quiescent, yet grounded?wholeness can emerge.?Zoom?out to?take?a look?at the lifeline of yourself?from birth to death and try to sense into: What is that person truly pursuing? Which longing? A longing to?heal??A longing to stand up for?something??To make something better or faster??Imagine:?What is that one value that there is MORE of?in this world, because you follow your calling??Is it joy? Fairness? Things running more?smoothly??Love and contribution? In your mind answer?the first question:?

What?am I?instinctively creating??

If you like open your eyes and write it down.?

I like to call this the sponsoring?pursuit.?That one thing that?you?create, reproduce, generate no matter where?you?go. It might be hidden in the ways you?make decisions or lead conversations, who?you promote?and?what?ideas you?like. But it for sure shows in three?things:?the?kind of?teams?you?are surrounded with, the?leadership you radiate?and the culture you build?as a result of?it.?

So?let’s start with?your team. Think about your?dream team. Imagine the kind of?colleage?you would be inspired to work with. Around 40% of happiness at work is driven by interpersonal relationships, so let’s?try to really understand what we seek?in order to?spot these guys when we meet then.??

Now let’s fast forward further down the line:?We?also?tend to think that?in order to?attract great people we have to pay top salaries or put bean bags and green smoothies into our company cafeteria. But?the?BEST?people resonate with?us, because?of?what?we?are building.?People hang out with?us?because they want to stand in?our?energy.??

I love to imagine we are all running around with an umbrella from which it rains that energy which we are spreading all the time to our surroundings. When you are a force of what you instinctively create: What does it rain under your umbrella? Empowerment? Peaceful?reflectedness? Or are things being fast, dynamic – boom-boom-boom? Whether you want it?or not: Whatever it rains under your umbrella, that’s your leadership style,?the culture we give rise to no matter where we go;?the reason why people?follow?or run away from you.?

The second question is:?

How does what you instinctively create relate to the world you are in???

• For this?you?wan to?understand?your?stage, your?role?and your audience.?
• As for your?stage:?Think about the?industries,?organisations,?products?or services that you deeply resonate with?you.??
• Pick a?role you seek to play in this, a role where you get to do the?things you?love:?talent or acquired?skill.?Are you the?artist who?masters and?perfects?their art – be that excel sheets or?people management? The preneur who?takes charge of running things?and getting the money in? Or the cheerleader who loves to listen and support so that others can do the work they are best at???
• And?your audience?are the?people?you serve.?Those who need what you have to offer.?Put simply: What is the hell they are in because they haven’t met your product or service?yet??And?what?heaven you catapult them into afterwards. That difference between their heaven and hell is the problem you solve for them.?And?if you define it well, it is something you can likely be paid for.??

And the third?question:?

What?long-term?lifestyle do you wish?to cultivate???

• For instance:?Are you?and your 5 children?living in a big house on the countryside? Or are you jet-setting between London and?Kuala Lumpur??
• This means to write down your?estimated?monthly or annual?expenses (and no – please – do not leave out pension,?insurances?or taxes)?and your time requirements for yourself, your social life and your hobbies.?
• And it means to be clear on how you?finance it.?Will you have one job? A part time job and a passion project? A scholarship??Or found your own organization???

So here we are.?These are my three big points.??

Maybe I could convince you?that “following your calling” does not at all have to?be?rash, but?an expression?of?how?you navigate your world.??

When going through these questions, maybe some of them end up being blank.?Maybe you think:?My answers contradict each other! Or: How am I supposed to know?all of?this NOW??

And you don’t have to. But the better you know the easier it will be for you to build?work that inspires?and fulfils you in the long run.??

And?by now?you will hopefully agree that:??

Knowing your calling is an asset. Following it an even bigger one.?The world is waiting for you.?

Written by Astrid Schrader, Founder of The Arc – Leadership Bootcamps and Coaching for impact-driven individuals seeking to build a meaningful career.

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