A Purpose filled Winter

Hi everyone

This winter has turned out to be one of the highest demand times of my life. I have to say I am fully engaged with work, with family, with church, with volunteering, with school, with hobbies, with fitness and with blogging. Unfortunately because it is last on the list the frequency with which I blog has decreased.

“High Capacity Season”

I get tired just thinking about the list above. It is certainly exhilarating yet it wears me down. This is where faith and fitness come in. These are my recharge activities. With out my time in worship and prayer, without time in exercise I simply could not keep up the life I am leading. With these activities I can continue on like the Energizer bunny I just keep going and going and going. The important issue though is that the only reason I can sustain this relentless pace for weeks and months on end is that all of what I am doing is aligned to my purpose.

“Check Your Alignment”

I shared my own purpose with you a few months back in a post called Finding Your Leadership Purpose. For me it is:

To make a difference in the lives of those I meet through my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the what, the how comes to life in my values; faith, family integrity, teaching, and learning. If you look at the list of activities I mentioned above you will see a clear link between each activity and the list of values. I translate integrity as a core aspect of leadership by the way.

“Stay the Course”

Most everything I do stems from or is related to one of my values and fits my purpose. Recently I was asked to take on a significant leadership role in a community outreach event. The event was massive, large budget thousands of lives touched. On the surface of it, the event fits neatly into my values and mirrors my purpose. To make matters more difficult the man who asked me to help him is a mentor to me, helping me grow in my faith life. What was my response to this friend and brother? I prayerfully said no.

“No, I cannot”

How could I do that you might ask? Well it was not easy yet I realized that as aligned as this event would be to my purpose, it would undermine my effectiveness in nearly all aspects of my life. The commitment asked for was beyond the resource I had available by so much that I would have had to walk away from nearly everything else I am doing in the next three months. Had I been given a sense through prayer that I needed to do so I would have. I was not and so I respectfully declined the opportunity.

“Learn More about No”

In my other blog I wrote a leadership tip on saying no, it really is a critical tool in a leader’s arsenal. I encourage you to join my mailing list there at developing leaders and consider it thoughtfully. I promise not to spam you.

Lead well

Ron

Leaders Purpose: 2 Down 3 or more To Go

So here we are two interviews down and at least three more to go. I am working out the details with these three "high capacity" ;-) people. I hope to post an interview within the next two weeks. I realize this is taking longer than I had originally foreseen to get these perspectives published. I sincerely hope they have been worth waiting for. I have learned a lot and hope you have too.

I believe there is value in this effort and plan to continue. Last weekend I was asked by one of our upcoming interviewees what I have learned so far. I reflected on the question and then shared that while I have learned many things, I am trying to hold off until the end to synthesize the results. I know the perspectives that will be gained will be wise and useful. I suspect there will be a few threads of commonality that when pulled upon will reveal a rich truth about the search for purpose. We mustn't try to pull on them prematurely, the web of connectivity may yet be too weak to reveal the truth lying just beneath the surface.

So we soldier on.

This by the way, diligence in leading, is a prerequisite of effectiveness. I could tell you stories of long hours, stressful days, emotional strain. I cold talk about the struggle for balance, searching for clarity, seeking schedule synchronization, but I won't. This blog is a challenge. It is a challenge to be transparent, to write with clarity to seek knowledge. It challenges me in so many ways. The benefit I receive back is in the knowledge that in some small way I have helped you, an anonymous reader. So I soldier on toward my goal; clarity in understanding a leaders purpose.

lead well

Ron

Interview 2: Terrence Seamon The Leadership Coach

Before I begin let me start by sharing that if you want to find out more about our guest Terrence Seamon you can do so through his blog at http://learningvoyager.blogspot.com/

"You have to know who you are deeply so you can really convey your passion to them"

Early in my career I would have paid plenty to have access to wise counsel. To have someone walking beside me that could offer perspective; offer a different approach to difficult conversations, difficult circumstances. I would have loved to have a leadership coach!

This is part of the reason that I coach others. I want to help those I work with to avoid some of the land mines I have stepped on. Not all of them of course. Read my post on adversity, you will know how much I value learning from mistakes and interpersonal conflict. No, I am talking about the types of mistakes that you should just avoid. In a leadership position there are things that you just should not do; walking into an important meeting without having thought out your approach, entering into a difficult conversation without considering alternative explanations of what might have happened. There are many things a coach can offer you that you just want to know.

The Coach

So it was with this in mind that I asked the next interviewee on our purpose series to participate. Terrence (Terry) Seamon has been involved in leadership development and leadership coaching in the greater New York City area for over 25 years. He has worked with clients in a vast range of industries and organizational levels. Terry is a coach with considerable experience in helping clients improve their leadership game.

I met Terry through Linked In. I love to answer other member questions related to leadership development in the forums there and so does Terry. It’s one of those things where you start to see the same names popping up time and time again. I always found a wise ring of truth to his responses and a clarity that comes only from years of experience. Terry and I have had a number of conversations on the elements of leadership development and it was for this reason that I thought you would benefit from his perspective.

The Twist

This interview took a twist. Rather than discussing Terry’s leadership purpose, I asked him to walk me through how he approaches the coaching process. I wanted you to be able to get inside the head of a leadership coach; to look at the client as he sees them. To go after a leaders purpose from a coaches perspective.

The Interview

I suppose there are as many approaches to getting through to people as there are people to get through to. Ultimately to make a difference in the life of a coaching client, a coach must get through. Terry and I talked about this aspect of the process for some time; it was clear that we were in agreement. [Side note there is an excellent book by leadership development coach Marshall Goldsmith called What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. In this book Marshall clearly states that if the client is not ready to change and listen to feedback then it is time to move on.]

Terry’s perspective was not substantially different from Marshall’s. Change requires an ability to hear what is being said, process it and evaluate your own behaviors against the feedback. Only then can a client begin to see the need for change.

Somebody is not going to be coached until they are ready for it. Creating readiness is partly a thing you can do as an external agent. But it’s also got to come from the person themselves.

Terry related the story of an executive who had been abrasive with his team and frankly had gotten to the point where the aggressive behavior was career limiting if not down right career threatening. He coached the executive to look at the feedback from his team. Not surprisingly he experienced push back from the executive. After all the very behaviors that had to this point seemed to help him succeed where now being called into question.

Purpose

Terry’s perspective on purpose entranced me; he had an elegant way of getting at the question without the directness you might expect. No Terry takes a subtle yet effective approach getting at purpose in unique ways. When I asked him about this he shared an example where he was assisting a client with their resume. Terry noted his client had no summary statement on his resume and dug in.

“I noticed that he did not have a summary statement at the top of his resume of who he was as a person… That was my recommendation to him and he had no idea of what I was talking about. “

I shared with him…You want to know what you are going after. At the same time you want to know who you are. You need to be able to convey that in writing and in speaking to people that you hope will invite you into their organization.

Fascinating approach, Terry was able to ask his client what is your leadership purpose without uttering a single word of the actual question. Once interested he was able to guide his client through the process of self discovery and a definition of purpose. Armed with a clear sense of purpose a leader has the ability to make informed choices about career opportunities and roles.

The Power of Feedback

Arguably the most important theme in Terry’s responses was the wisdom he conveyed regarding feedback. In all aspects of our time together this activity seemed to bubble to the top. Whether through questions meant to spark self examination or survey feedback from peers, direct reports and supervisors the role of the leadership coach is to provide an external force that helps the client to see the context from a different perspective.

Remember the hard charging abrasive executive? Feedback, Terry offered him the data that challenged the executive to look in the mirror and see what others saw. Between this and some external “heat” by his superiors, the executive opened up and began to learn a new approach.

The application of external heat (force) would be a general principle here Ron.

Hopefully the client begins to internalize the feedback and accept that they need to embrace the possibility of change.

“One Size Fits All”

Well no this would be incorrect. It may seem rather obvious but people are different and the approach taken by a leadership coach depends on the client and what will work with them to affect change.

No. Everybody is different; there is definitely no one size fits all here… A lot of people are looking for the recipe just give me the five steps that I follow every time and get a quick result. Unfortunately the world does not work that way. Yet there are many vendors out there who will try to sell you the recipe.

The reality of any growth process is that it is gradual. There are no quick fixes only long term solutions. Terry’s wisdom on this point reflects my own philosophy. Organizations who want to be successful in the long term must invest in the growth of their people and realize that immediacy and reflexive action can cause more harm than good. Without the delicate balance of execution and reflective consideration we can become a train wreck begging to happen or a ponderer who never ventures into reality. Either choice seems unacceptable to a purposeful leader.

Process…When Required

Terry and I also discussed how the coaching process progresses. IS there a standardized approach? Do you wing it? Do you set up accountability meetings?

Terry conveyed that it is difficult to say that there is one approach. His starting point allows for many potential directions, in keeping with the diversity of his clients. Once a direction is decided however process is definitely invoked. This is a critical aspect in that change does require a level of accountability. It is those coaches who are hardest on us, that care about us who drive us to our greatest performance level. So Terry takes on this role challenging when needed, offering guidance where appropriate. In the end however he is there holding his client accountable to their own success however that might be defined.

Takeaways

So what takeaways can we glean from Terry’s contribution to the conversation on a leaders purpose?

• Feedback truly is a gift to effective leaders
• Leadership development is not microwave popcorn it is a rich stew cooked gradually in a slow cooker
• Development is primarily an internal process but can be influenced by surgical applications of external force or heat
• How you apply external heat can either help a client grow or scorch them altogether.

I will leave you with a final quote from Terry who offers his best wisdom on personal development and the role of experience…

Experience is the best teacher but she is rough on her students.

Lead well

Ron

Leaders Purpose: A High Capacity Day

Have you ever noticed when you greet someone during their day and ask them how things are they will often say "very busy"?

In the past several weeks this word “busy” has taken on new meaning to me. Ironically it has taken on the meaning to have little meaning or purpose; to work hastily getting the tasks of the day accomplished all the while losing sight on what is important.

Perhaps this is an unfair assessment. Well perhaps, yet I do not judge others I simply wonder whether the list of tasks that people scurry about to complete have any meaning in the grand scheme of things. What eternal value do our tasks have? Could this be a deception that keeps us at bay; to keep us from fulfilling or perhaps discovering our true purpose?

I believe it is…

So I have created a new answer to this question. When someone asks me how things are, I reflect on how well I am doing against my purpose. How am I progressing those strategic activities that bring life value and meaning. Am I on track in my leadership role in achieving the goals set out before me.

If I am doing well I respond to the question; I am having a high capacity day and I am blessed that supply is level with demand. This gives me an ability to create a nuance for those days that are overwhelming (supply is not meeting demand) and awesome days where “Bring it” is the quote of the day.

On days that are simply lost, that is I am not working toward my purpose, I can still respond that I am busy if I am or whatever else I am feeling. Only thing is now I have an external prompt to get myself back on track working toward my purpose.

How do you stay in your purpose?

How do you find your purpose?

Lead well

Ron

FINALLY!!! Interview #1: Dan King Blogger @ ManagementbyGod.com

A couple days back I was able to complete the first of what I expect to be several interviews on a “Leaders Purpose”. Blogger Dan King from Florida graciously agreed to be interviewed and also to be my first interviewee to be part of a Material Leadership Podcast. More on that later!

The interview with Dan was fascinating; we talked about his blog Management by God and how it relates to his sense of purpose as a leader. My original desire to include Dan as the first of several interviewees’ relates to the clarity his blog and the authenticity of his character. In Management by God Dan explores timeless Biblical wisdom and relates it to everyday leadership and management issues. As a fellow Christian the wisdom I have can also be directly linked to this important book. I felt that Dan had a story that needed to be told; a story that would explain how Management by God came to be and why it was so important. I was not disappointed. I learned that Dan was a principled man who has a clear sense of purpose and values that he strives daily to live by.

One of the aspects of the interview that made it even more authentic occurred when he was interrupted by a family member in need of a cookie. Dan’s clear sense of values was in this moment uniquely expressed. You can make no mistake he lives his values in an authentic way.

I asked Dan whether his blog helped define or refine his sense of purpose. Refine it he said clearly, this is a guy with a clear idea of what he is on this earth for. Dan is a teacher and a Christian. He has a mission field out in the secular business world that he uses with skill to teach timeless biblical wisdom on the subject of management and leadership.

When it comes to Management by God (.com) and its relation to my purpose, it has provided me with another opportunity to teach, in another way. It’s one of those things that has really helped me to live out my purpose, to do what God has called me to do.

How did Dan discover his own sense of purpose? He described to me being woken in the middle of the night and having God clearly tell him to teach his people.

I remember an instance several years ago, being woken up in the middle of the night. It was this very strange thing like the fire alarm in the apartment would go off. It would not even budge my wife, she would be dead asleep. I would be sitting there wide awake trying to bang the thing off the wall with a hammer to get it to shut off. Finally one night, after waking up several nights in a row at the same time, I got up and I said, “Alright God, I am going to sit here and pray and I am not going to stop until you tell me why you keep waking me up.”… I really kind of felt that (not in a loud audible voice) there was a voice in my heart kind of telling me that you are going to teach them my ways. “Alright God whatever, what do you want me to pray for? He repeated you are going to teach them my ways.

Well perhaps you are not the spiritual type, perhaps you have not had the opportunity to speak with God, perhaps you are a skeptic. Okay please remember this is not your story, it is Dan’s.

Higher Calling

In the past several months as I have contemplated how to best coach others into finding their own leadership purpose, I have continually bumped into a wall. Call it what you will higher calling, spiritual guidance, inner voice; however you define it I believe that the humanists get this wrong. There is something bigger than the individual at play here. The challenge is to find it. Dan found it in the wee small hours of the night when God reached out and told him to “teach his people”. This greater force allows Dan the motivation to continue in the face of adversity, to persevere. I personally find my “something bigger” in my Christian faith as well.

Where do you find yours? Do you acknowledge it or ignore it? Certainly it is possible to achieve some level of success while within yourself. However when you tap into a power greater than yourself truly remarkable things can be achieved.

Finding this higher calling can take a life time or a moment, I believe it depends on the person. I do recommend that you take the time to quiet your mind, to get into a relaxed state where the insanity and chaotic noise of life can melt away and you can for once hear things clearly without disruption. This may take the form of prayer, meditation or some other form. Regardless of the path seeking out your sense of higher calling is an important aspect to finding your leadership purpose.

Get Dirty, Make Mistakes

How do you expect to learn anything about your own talents unless you are willing to experiment? My conversation with Dan had taken a turn, he described for me how he had volunteered at his church in a number of capacities and through these his talents (gifts) started to come into focus. There is an old quote that says “you always miss 100% of the shots you do not take.” Dan and I agree that getting in the game is a critical aspect in finding yourself and uncovering your purpose.

Just going out and serving and experiencing ministry in different ways and discovering my gifts in different ways

This aspect of purpose may seem out of phase with the last section yet it is not. You see this discovery process is not linear. We are not baking a cake here; no we are making a leader’s life. Often the best learning and growth comes from reflection upon and synthesis of multiple experiences in a short time frame. Translation: do stuff, experiment, get your hands dirty, make mistakes. How else do you intend to learn and uncover your purpose?

Values

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the interview occurred when I asked Dan what his values were. You see I believe that purpose and values are intimately related. My hypothesis is that if you have taken the time to discover one it is almost certain that you have discovered the other. I was expecting him to rattle of things like faith, family, and teaching, things consistent with what he had already shared. What I got was completely different. I got the following statement,

I have one rule that I use to define my personal values, to live the way the Bible tells me to live... In some cases, in some parts of my life I may have discovered that more than other areas. I know I constantly have areas to grow and mature in Christ. I really try to center my life around the word of God.

Essentially what Dan was saying is that he has a filter that he passes his experiences through and uses to decide how he will react. The filter is scripture. In an authentic way he strives to be consistent with the truths of the Bible in every aspect of his life. When I consider the topic of his blog scriptural application to life and leadership, how could it be otherwise? Here is a guy who walks his talk, leadership personified.

Wrap Up

What can we take away from Dan’s interview? Well there are several things that stuck out for me.

Walk the Talk

It is critical for authenticity in leadership that words and actions be aligned. Dan does this through his values statement and the accompanying use of a scriptural filter. He also does so by boldly blogging about the biblical aspects of leadership and management.

Give Freely

As is the code of blogging, give freely. Not with an expectation of what may come back to you but rather with a passion for living your own purpose. Dan’s tireless volunteerism has led to a clear understanding of his gifts and an even clearer sense of purpose for his life.

Be Fearless

It is only when we step into the game that we learn of our own mettle. We need to be bold and to risk mistakes in order to discover ourselves. Dan has done this in many ways his personal commitments arguably rival his career obligations.

Keep Perspective

You have to know what is important and be unapologetic in choosing it when the time is right. Dan understands the importance of family and incorporates them into many activities as possible (another walking the talk moment). He has a clear sense of what is important and pursues it.

Recognize it is not always about you

A leader is in that position for the very reason that they see an end state larger than just themselves. They may see an organization feeding the poor, correcting injustice, creating a new machine, providing worthwhile work to a community. Whatever it is they see something larger than themselves. This is the very argument of purpose, a cause greater than themselves. If you believe leadership is about providing you with some greater slice of the pie, some convenience or privilege you have sorely missed the mark.

The Podcast

In the next several days I will publish the Material leadership podcast. The first episode will contain part one of the interview with Dan. I am very excited to bring this to you and hope that you gain as much value from the interview as I did.

So the first step is to figure out exactly how to get a podcast on the web. As soon as I have done so I will include a link to the cast. If you want more information on this feel free to contact me at ronn.hurst@gmail.com

To Dan

Finally my sincere thanks to Dan for being my first interviewee. I gained so much from the time you gave me, thank you.

To everyone

Lead well

Ron

What if your purpose and your job do not align?

A few days back a friend read my posts on the subject of leadership purpose. Something caught his attention when I described the phrase constancy of purpose. He commented,

“Constancy of Purpose presents an interesting conflict for me. I struggle with duality of purpose. My life's purpose is clear to me. Where I struggle is that my career...as much as I enjoy and appreciate it...is never more than a means for me to live my espoused purpose or pay the bills. My career is more or less apart from my purpose, not a neatly-fitting part of it. The obvious answer is to find a career more in line with my values and purpose, but that simply wont do when it comes to everyday life's reality. I enjoy my daily interactions at work and look forward to opportunities I have to lead people in faith, provide council or simply be the office purifier. Who can help me work this out? Any suggestions or comments are most welcome.”

So comment I will. This friend of mine is a very intelligent fellow, well educated, highly motivated, eloquent, energetic, and principled. His comments and questions cannot be taken lightly; he is struggling mightily with what he considers a duality of purpose.

There is no magic bullet here and idealistic statements have little worth for this conversation. My friend needs wise council, a clear direction in which to explore. He has a clear sense of purpose. I know because I tested him. He belted out his 30 second elevator speech readily. This man has spent some time discovering his purpose.

What are our options? As I see it they are limited yet here are some that need to be given consideration.

1. Accept the duality and continue deriving meaning from external activities
2. Find another job more closely aligned to his purpose
3. Find meaning related to his purpose in his current role
4. Develop a secondary purpose that will more closely fit to your role
5. Evolve the role and organization to align more closely with your values and purpose

Accept the Duality = Status Quo

Even though the majority of working people do some form of this, it is hard to ignore the work of Gallup who have found that over 70% of workers are not engaged. Duality of purpose almost certainly will lead to some level of disengagement. Perhaps this is a chicken and egg story. Does disengagement arise from a misalignment of purpose or perhaps it is the other way round?

I read some interesting research by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner who you may know are the authors of one of my top five leadership books The Leadership Challenge. They found a positive correlation between the degree of alignment in personal and organizational values with motivation and performance. If an employee has an alignment between their own values and those of the company they are highly likely to be motivated to higher performance. But what of purpose?

I believe the alignment of purpose, though perhaps less clear, can be similar. An organizations whose sole existence is to increase the wealth of their shareholders would be a poor fit for an individual whose life purpose is related to lessening human suffering, improving education for disadvantaged youths etc.

So perhaps there is an opportunity to look behind the façade of the organization. By determining what it truly values, looking at it’s behaviors as well as its words, will give insight into how misaligned personal and organizational purpose are. A severe misalignment here requires a decision, should I stay and seek to fulfill my purpose externally reasoning I can accept what the organization believes. Alternatively must I leave saying I cannot be a part of this any longer.

Quit and Start Again

Choosing the latter path above will not necessarily be easy but does provide for a clear honoring of your individual purpose. This is the courageous choice. I caution not to enter into this option lightly. Preplanning and career searches prior to the decision point will make the transition less uncertain.

There are a number of excellent podcasts dealing with the preparation for and implications of this type of decision on one of my favorite websites; www.manager-tools.com. I highly recommend listening to these in advance of such a decision.

The benefit of this approach is the opportunity to seek out an organization whose purpose is more closely aligned with your own. To facilitate knowledge in this area it is advisable to conduct web based searches for keywords related to your purpose. Correspond with the types of organizations who seem like minded. Go as far as interviewing key members of these new organizations for further insight. Finally, taking on volunteer roles in your local community that are closely related to your purpose will not only help refine it but will provide needed experience and contacts in the field.

Dig Deep in Your Current Role

As a leader and manager I believe it is my responsibility to define the role I am in, in a way that will make my team and my organization successful. I do not conform and simply do what is expected, I look for a way to change the context of the role and achieve break through results. Why do I bring this up here? I believe that in any leadership role some ability to do this is available to the leader. As long as organizational priorities are achieved and people are respected, there is an opportunity to look for opportunities to live your purpose within the organization.

Say perhaps you are called to eliminate poverty and the associated suffering. As a manager you could look for ways to partner with local institutions that deal with the poor and provide them a limited service through your organization that helps them and provides you and your team a chance to practice their skills. You could get involved with product development efforts to develop lower cost items that would benefit the poor.

Alternatively you could follow the organizational value chain to its logical conclusion to see what people / groups most benefit from your products and services. If organizational decisions take directions that will adversely affect these groups you could act as their advocate explaining the benefit to the community of continued support.

A Backup Plan / Purpose

This concept is closely related to the previous one. The reality of purpose is that we often define our purpose in rather high level ways. Kind of like looking at a farmer’s field from a 727, we see the ground from 30,000 feet. There are not many details just shapes, colors, shadow and contour. Well we can use this to our advantage by seeking to refine our purpose and identifying a subset that can be achieved while at work. The employee who wants to serve the poor might start with the working poor within the organization and mentor them in skills that will help them grow and succeed.

Change the Context

One of the great leadership theorists of our time, Warren Bennis, made this plea in his book On Becoming a Leader. Similar to the argument made above in redefining your role in the organization, there is another option, change the organization. Well yes I did say something about avoiding idealism at the outset, okay, yet there is a distinct possibility with the right groundswell of support and correctly executed influence strategies the culture and ultimately purpose of the organization could be tweaked.

Not an easy undertaking and frankly you would be lucky to move it even marginally. Yet if your purpose was not far removed why not, why couldn’t you undertake this? We are talking leadership purpose here after all. This is the role of a leader to define a better future state and help people want to travel there. The beauty of this option is that as you continue to have you and your team achieve their required commitments, this long term modification will engage you and will undoubtedly leave little room for thought on the degree of misalignment. You would of course be engaged with the purpose of trying to change it!

That’s all

Lead well

Ron

Hang Tight Everyone

Hey everyone

Workin It

A quick note to say that I am working it. It has been a while since I had to coordinate interviews with busy people. This is taking a while. I am certain my persistence will pay off in some valuable insights to share with you. I have four interviews in the works currently. Two with very talented bloggers, another with a professor and the fourth with a well known author. Each of these individuals I respect greatly and am hopeful to start posting the interviews within the week.

I can envision a number of others beyond this but lets stay in the moment.

I am as constant as the northern star...

Did you see Star trek IV? This is my favorite quote from that movie. I suppose Shakespeare and Julius Cesar should also get credit for it. I love the metaphor. Every time I think of the importance of consistency in purpose, I think of this quote. Luckily I do not consider the ill fated gentlemen who uttered it . The quote gets a bad egotistical wrap. Regardless, constancy of purpose is critical to a leader.

Constancy of Purpose

As I dig in and work toward realizing these important interviews, I am reminded of some wisdom around this concept of constancy of purpose.

What's todays Vision?

I once followed a leader in a volunteer capacity who had a new vision every couple of weeks. This used to drive me nuts. Just pick one I often exclaimed in frustration. The people who want to follow you need to know where you want to go. They don't want a new constantly changing vision.

If you think about communication and how remarkably difficult leadership communication is in the first place, you will see the impossibility of this position. They have not even understood the last vision and now you are painting a new one. MAKE UP YOUR MIND! Decide upon a clear direction and immerse yourself in it.

Communicate Communicate Communicate!

Once a leader has a relatively clear sense of purpose, of vision, of process they should communicate it. They should communicate it often, repetitively and in many forms, with pictures, in stories, in metaphors, in simple understandable language. Just when you are getting sick and tired of saying it, they will start hearing and understanding.

Scope Creep

No, not weirdo in need of mouth wash, the inevitable growth of a purpose as peripheral good intentions are added onto the purpose until it is unrecognizable. A leader must stay true to their leadership purpose and learn to respectfully and empathetically say no to those things outside the scope of their purpose.

The Never Ending Story...

All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately many things just die a horrible death of neglect and guilt. The next time you lead a group to achieve a purpose, when you have achieved your desired end, celebrate the achievement and at the same time the funeral of the team that achieved it. Dignified endings are in! It is the only way out of the never ending story...

Well thats it! I am back to investing in the process, you to your own leadership purpose.

See you soon with a great interview...

Lead well

Ron

Finding your Leadership Purpose

Have you ever thought about why you are here on this earth?

What is it that you were destined to do?

Do you even consider that you have a destiny and a purpose?

I think it would be incredibly difficult to be a leader without a clear sense of purpose. In my case I have found that for the majority of my life I had a diffuse sense of purpose. It has been kind of like someone who needs corrective lenses, while not wearing their glasses. You can see things but they are fuzzy and indistinct. You want to rub your eyes and clear things up, but it does not work.

My corrective lenses as it turns out were prescribed in the late 90’s. In my case it was my Christian faith coming to life. My purpose has been honed and clarified in the past 10 years and I can now say clearly:

To make a difference in the life’s of those I meet through my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ

I live this purpose in this blog and my other two, in my professional life as a general manager and in my volunteer activities. I joyfully serve the poor, lead in the men’s ministry and consult as a leadership coach at my church. So that’s me. What about you? What is your purpose?

Have you considered how you might find out what it is?

There are many paths to discovery of the answer of what your purpose is.

Here is what I recommend…

Values

First get in touch with your personal values. These will allow you a clearer sense of what matters to you and hence where your focus would be best placed. There is a remarkably deep well of energy and motivation available to any leader who aligns their actions with a purpose congruent with their values. I am regularly astounded at how much I am willing to sacrifice for a cause I am committed to. I believe that this is true for everyone. We are made for a purpose; the challenge is finding it.

I wrote about values several posts ago. I recommend you go back and review that post for a more in depth approach to this aspect of finding your purpose.

Your values, your sense of self, integrity and adversity

Passion

The most complicated aspect of finding your purpose is to be aware of those things that you are passionate about. Like most I struggle to be fully present in the moment. Awareness of your emotional state is not always easy but is definitely powerful. As I discussed in the post on emotional intelligence a while back, awareness of your emotions is the first step to managing them. The other important aspect of emotional awareness is the opportunity to discover the events, issues, topics that you are passionate about. Those things we are passionate about offer us clues as to what our purpose is. You can learn more about emotional awareness and emotional intelligence by clicking here

Purpose Exercise

• As you go through the next 30 days pay attention to those things that cause emotional spikes then right them down.
• After compiling at least five events engage in the following process for each event.
  Ask why the first event caused an emotional reaction. Write your response.
  Ask why the explanation of your emotional reaction was the case. Write your
  response.
  Ask why at least twice more until you reach a point where you cannot reasonably ask
  why again. Write your response again.
  
• Capture the key theme of this event on the left side of the page in block letters.
  
• Repeat the process for all other events.
• Compare the key themes and look for trends. Circle the most obvious key themes.
  
• Ask yourself where these key themes are played out in your life?
• Look for a volunteer activity in an organization engaged in addressing this type of theme.

Example

Early in my career I met a guy who was amazingly talented. He was a hobby plumber, electrician, and carpenter. He was president of the lodge he attended. Yet at work he moved heavy steel plate from one location to another. He had an important job, but one that used almost none of his talent. He asked one day to take computer software courses. His manager refused telling him the courses were unnecessary for his role. This angered me.

Why was I angry?

His manager failed to see that this guy wanted to learn.

Why would this bother me?

I knew this man to be far more capable than his current position required. By refusing him the opportunity to learn, his manager was de-motivating a talented individual.

Why did it matter that the individual was being de-motivated

This man had more potential than the manager in question could ever realize. Her ignorance angered me because the organization would suffer and not benefiting from this individuals unrealized potential.

Why did this bother me?

This story bothered me because the manager and the organization for that matter, were demonstrating poor leadership, wasting talent, and under performing.

I am about developing leaders. Even fifteen years ago the deliberate waste of human capital angered me. I need to develop leaders, this is central to my purpose.

From this exercise the theme of leadership, high performance, employee development, and continuous learning can all be identified. From this and other similar experiences I arrived at my own life purpose.

Your Turn

If you enter into this exercise you may find multiple passions. Some may burn brightly while others are a slow simmer, perhaps others still on defrost in the microwave. The point here is to become aware of them and then ask the right questions about them to discover your purpose(s). Take the time and discover your purpose.

When you have identified a key theme that may be your purpose take action. Find a way to learn about the theme and discover if it ignites your internal passion

If you want to learn more about this or other leadership development topics, visit my leadership coaching blog Developing Leaders or contact me at

ronn.hurst@gmail.com

Lead well

Ron

Purpose...

Purpose

A while back I mentioned that I was planning to transition the focus of this blog from the internal nature of a leader toward the purpose of a leader. In other words moving from self leadership to other leadership. As we make this transition I am compelled to comment on why I spent so long on self leadership.

Frankly the main reason is I have seen leadership lived out poorly in others as well as myself. We must learn to lead ourselves well before we ever consider leading others. To do otherwise sets you up for failure. In some cases very public failure.

My early leadership experiences were BAD. Yes bad with a capital B. I want to share two of them with you as a testament to what can happen to those willing to do the work to learn to lead.

When I was starting my senior year in college, I attempted to take on a significant leadership role…

Super Plumber!!!

This story was instrumental as a case of BAD leadership for me. Our engineering school had a special welcome for incoming frosh into the program. This is the stuff that makes college reminiscing worthwhile. We did pub crawls (literally after the fifth pub some were crawling) we did parades, we sang terrible songs, we introduced the frosh to our uniquely brash and arrogant culture. During this week were led by a fictitious character we named super plumber. I have no idea where the name came from it was one of those things, a legend that emerged from graduating classes of decades gone by. Super plumber was always a senior who best personified the engineering spirit. He was voted upon by all the other seniors who led frosh week. It was a great and prestigious role that allowed the senior to play the ham, have a lot of fun, and drink a lot of free beer.

So at our organizing meeting I made my pitch. I donned a cape and acted mysterious. Sharing stories of greatness of our school, our program. I explained how I had helped organize the raid on a rival engineering school, made the lives of all the campus arts students very uncomfortable during homecoming, how I had organize the bathtub races, how I had led activities in our icy January beach party the year before (Brrrr I still get the chills to my bones when I think of that icy lake). As I walked through my accomplishments I was heckled by a few fellow seniors but overall I thought it went well. When it came to the vote I lost handily to a friend. I was devastated. Did I mention I hate losing? I have not forgotten that bitter taste of loss. I tried to soldier on and be a good loser but that is not my style. I hate losing. I did not handle it well, I sulked and became somewhat detached.

You Don’t Even Want to Work Here

Unfortunately this same engineering culture led to another early leadership failure. When I left college I went to work in the steel industry. My first job was in a training program where you worked in various departments seeking a place where you would ultimately fit and stay. In my first placement I worked in one of the toughest parts of the steel industry, the blast furnaces. It was a place where men dealt with life and death every day and it showed on their faces. They had seen much and did not suffer fools, or young engineers, well. Just like the name of the area suggests this was a place that could make or break you. In many ways it broke me. I tried my best to fit in but it was a struggle. I loved the guys working on the furnaces, but the staff, I could not figure them out. I did not fit in at all; I just could not get over my engineer attitude and connect with the other salaried folks. In my exit interview I was told that “you don’t even want to work here”. I was dumbfounded; I had said nothing of the sort. Sure, I was struggling with the shift pattern, with the work, with the salaried folks, but I had never said anything to anyone about not wanting to be there.

Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions

For the longest time I struggled with this placement. A negative performance review and a feeling of rejection, again. What an opportunity! I sulked and whined for some time; in fact my attitude adversely impacted my performance at my next placement. They did not want me either. Only thing was that I was slowly starting to process what was going on and accept the feedback I was given as my own. I learned that I came across as cocky and aloof. I appeared as a know it all, insensitive to others. I was in it for myself and did not care about the bodies I left in my wake. None of it was true to me, I cared deeply about those around me! I may have had no life experience in showing it, but I cared! This feedback cut deeply, it hurt. I resolved to change. I took it upon myself to befriend people who could tech me about the area I was weak. Ironically in 1989 I was laser focused on improving my emotional intelligence; of course Daniel Goleman and others had not yet coined that phrase. I connected with admin assistants and female colleagues, those I reasoned had this interpersonal stuff figured out. It was a slow process but I grew. Since I had sooooo far to go even growing quickly it took time to get decent at this.

I Quit

By the time I left that organization twelve years later, I had made life long friends, been a part of awesome high performance teams, had a respected list of accomplishments that the teams I was apart of had won. Most importantly I had learned the basics of being a leader and finding purpose in leading. It was ironic that the reason I resigned was because of an interpersonal challenge that had become untenable. It was not performance, it was not the lure of more money, it was a poor manager who cared only about himself and how he was perceived by the organization. Irony irony…

I sit here 19 year later reflecting on emotional intelligence and purpose. My most recent opportunity offered in the largest sense because of my ability to connect with people, to have a clear sense of purpose and align a team to achieve it. Irony irony…

What is leadership development about?

Hard painful self assessing, self breaking work. It is anguish and uncertainty, suffering and second guessing, it is discomfort. Leadership development; is it worth it?

You bet your life it is.

For me there is no greater calling, no more fulfilling activity than to lead well. It warms my heart to see others grow and flourish in an environment of healthy leadership. I smile inwardly like a proud father when one of my team steps into the breach and leads. The thought that I had an influence on their life and leadership is a great altruistic treasure.

This is not for the feint of heart, it is for the courageous. It is for those willing to seek their purpose, their leadership mantle.

Lead well

Ron