We want to believe that everyone shows up to work on all levels void of the experiences that we are engaged in outside of the workplace. It's a fallacy. We all have a home life, social life, purpose life and a work life and they are all critical parts of our lives and our whole self.
Self-Fulfillment is a direct result of Your purpose life. "Fulfillment is the true motivator. You can’t buy it, You can fake it, You can’t wish it because Fulfillment is Soulful vs Happiness that is Emotional and based on experiences. Your positive experiences from your Purpose life will will surely have the capacity to influence your employees work lives and facilitate them optimizing results and achieve goals. A leader who has discovered their Purpose delivers with a sense of Purpose that everyone on the team has something to contribute.
A 2015 Harvard Business Review article provides some insight on Purposeful leadership vs traditional leadership. Purposeful Leaders focuses on strengths to realize career aspirations vs traditional leaders focusing on weaknesses to address performance. Purposeful leaders start at the end and moving backwards vs traditional leaders focusing on the present moving forward. Purposeful leaders take a holistic look at work and family vs traditional leaders may often disregard responsibilities outside of the workplace.
There are four areas that Purposeful leaders are pretty good at:
Purposeful Leaders are Empathetic. They see the challenges head on but they will take a moment to intentionally address and understand the feelings of others. Their purpose life is what will give this leader the resilience to seemingly take a lot in and let go.
Purposeful Leaders are Direct. They will be direct when it is necessary to do so. They have established trust with colleagues and employees. Difficult conversations are received from a place of trust vs emotional and self-motivated.
Purposeful Leaders are Emotionally Quotient. They have discovered their Purpose which included discovering what they are not good at therefore at bit more adept to perceiving and managing their own emotions.
Purposeful Leaders are Committed to their careers. They have given their purpose a space to flourish. Their peace and happiness are not wholly aligned with who and what they do in the workplace. They can authentically commit to their organization's strategic goals and completely support change management.
Purpose most often is recognized as a soft skill; in our current workplace environment of three to four generations in the workplace, technology ever-changing and diverse work groups; Purposeful Leadership should be a part of strategy and embedded in Change Management.
You don't have to choose one and stick with it no matter what. Try infusing Purposeful Leadership strategy into traditional leadership and if you are a already a true Purposeful Leader; if infusing traditional strategy at times seems to work; do it.
We are all Global citizens Leading, doing Business and Relationships on our own terms for a true Life Best Lived.