The desire for a renewed sense of meaning and purpose, to be of greater impact, is a very mid-life phenomenon. I was a classic mid-lifer. There was nothing wrong with my life. Quite the contrary. By any measure, I was what society termed ‘successful’. I was 38, on a steep career trajectory, considered a star performer by my employers. I was financially comfortable, had a nice life, plenty of friends and family. I was happy. But after almost 20 years working in global investment management, I resigned in 2017. As I watched the mounting problems globally, I was certain I was supposed to have a greater impact in the world. It instigated a period of deep reflection around how I was showing up in the world.
It was a powerful moment of choice in my life, about who I could be and what I wanted my impact in the world to be. This desire for greater meaning and purpose comes to us all. It is a personal call to reflect on what choices you are making in your life today and if they are supporting your inner desire to have the impact you could have. I’m not writing this to suggest you change your career or resign from your organisation. Quite the opposite. It can be even more impactful to decide to infuse greater purpose into your life, work, or business exactly where you are today. A choice to make better use of all the resources already available to you.
Purpose Asks ‘Who Do You Want To Be In The World?’
Like most things that really matter to us in life, purpose is challenging. To really lead in a purposeful way you must first be willing to disrupt yourself. A question I repeatedly ask myself is ‘who do I want to be in the world?’. I try to make decisions in life and work that bring me closer to that version of myself. Because purpose is an expression of identity. Each decision you make, each action you take represents the person you want to be in the world. Purpose asks us what matters to us – as people, as citizens of our world, as leaders in life and business today. What do you really value? And how does that understanding infuse your decision-making process?
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Choices reflect who you are and your belief system, what matters to you. A sense of purpose and a longing to lead well in our life, work and communities are existential desires I believe we all have. Purpose is very personal and unique to each person but what it implies is a sense of being in service to a bigger ideal. To contribute ourselves in some way to the world around us. What I know for certain is that the world needs this from us. No one else is coming to fix our collective issues. We each need to find the leader inside ourselves if we want a better world.
Purpose Is About Impact
When I started out, I thought long and hard about how I would structure my business. I had plenty of ideas but the word I kept coming back to was ‘Impact’. How could I maximise my impact in the world? I am not alone here. This is what we all want. Whether you have acknowledged it or not, you have a vision for yourself and your place in the world. Each of us desires to have maximum impact in the world; through our business or work, our life, and our relationships. Purposeful leadership becomes a reality when you use the resources available to you to have a greater impact on yourself, others, and society.
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Impact starts with clarity. In my experience, purpose-led people and leaders are not short on ideas. They see all the needs and problems in their life, industry or the world and can perceive multiple ways to make change. Choosing where to focus attention is the greatest challenge. Our impact amplifies not when we do more but when we focus on what is the best use of our talents, resources, and drive.
Impact requires bravery. It usually means you will stand out. To really be impactful means you will make choices that are different from those close to you, those in your workplace or industry. A key quality I see in many purpose-led individuals and leaders is the ability to ‘create’. To be brave enough to birth new ideas and ways of doing things into the world. As all the great wisdom traditions tell us, to create something new, we must be willing to let go of the old. We must be brave enough to walk away from how things have previously been done. If you aspire to be purpose-led in life or work, you must understand that your approach will be different to what you see others doing. It HAS to be different because purposeful leadership is always about breaking new ground.
Purpose is a Commitment
Longevity is the very nature of purpose. Purpose is always about the long term, your legacy, answering a call to make change, overarching life or business goals. Purpose-led businesses, projects and pursuits take more effort and, thus, take longer. You can’t take short cuts in your pursuit to be ‘on purpose’. More than anything, purpose is a commitment; a commitment to showing up, to doing the right thing in a world that needs your commitment so badly.