Lead with purpose to maximise your impact.
- truthaboutlocalgov
- May 4
- 5 min read
For anyone either with aspirations of being within a position of authority within local government, or indeed already is such a position the glass ceiling we self create that limits our potential and stagnates progress is a lack of understanding around what is motivating us. If we cannot clearly articulate in a manner that is personnel to us what is our purpose and clearly explain why, then we are leaving so much on the table and limiting our personal growth and delaying our career journey.
"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why" Mark Twain.
Now none of this is new. It is not revolutionary. But the impact of properly dialling in on what is your purpose has such a transformatory power that you need to give yourself sufficient time to truly explore your purpose and indeed the passion that is fuelling you.
"Passion is the genesis of genius." – Tony Robbins
It will be the fuel that sustains you when you hit a particularly tiring time at work, or perhaps when there is significant change ahead, such as a change in political leadership at your local authority. Regardless of the cause, every leader is going to run into challenging times. Having your purpose clearly articulated in your purpose statement will be your north star and keep you on course to realise your ambitions. There has been some fantastic research done by Nick Craig and Scott Snook, who co authored From Purpose to Impact: Figure Out Your Passion and Put It to Work, which is where the inspiration for this blog arose from.
What is a purpose statement?
A purpose statement is specific to you and it is in your words. It is not a generic statement about what someone in your position at a council should be driven by, such as a Monitoring Officer saying my purpose is to ensure that the organisation is run in a legally compliant and moral manner. It’s not real enough. It’s not personal enough. You need to dig deep and explore yourself and really extrapolate your true purpose. However, beyond having the space to explore your individuality, it is important you feel there is a process to follow.
You need to look at your life thus far and examine it for common threads and major themes to clearly identify what are your life long strengths and passion. When you explore this we are looking to find out what makes you truly happy.
"Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions." – Dalai Lama
Do not try this alone.
What this process requires is a level of introspection and commitment which can be uncomfortable and challenging. But, you need the support of either trusted friends or colleagues to act as mirrors to you. As I am sure you can attest, people often treat others with far more care and sympathy than they do themselves and indeed can often much more objective and effective advice on how to tackle a problem. The same is true for this exercise. Be careful about who you choose, as you only want to do this with people that you value the opinion of and have the emotional intelligence to be able to discern clear patterns from your behaviours.
The following questions can be a really useful tool to help tease out your purpose when undertaking this exercise.
On your death bed, and you had the chance to start again, knowing everything that you know now what activities would make you happiest?
If no one’s opinion impacted you, what were the happiest moments in your life, as a child, in your teens, in you early adult life etc.
Imagine you are writing your own auto biography, what were the toughest three experiences in your life. What was the impact that they had on you in the short term? Did anything shape you and your character indefinitely? What did you learn from those experiences? Knowing what you know now, how would you deal with that situation and would it hold the same power over you?
This is going to be intense. Again I stress the importance of finding the right people to undertake this journey with.
Once you are finished it is time to draft your purpose statement. As we discussed previously, it has to be in your own words and truly capture who you are and what your purpose is. You have to be brave here to not only be truly honest, but also concise. Every word has to mean something to be on that page. It is not a corporate exercise. Use you own words and create a powerful honest representation of your purpose, that calls you to action. Start with my leadership purpose is X.
"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction." – John F. Kennedy
After you have drafted your purpose statement, you then need to write in detail why this is your purpose. It is important hear that you put down sufficient detail that you reinforce that your purpose statement is not just words on a page, but a true representation of your inner essence. A light to guide you through the darkest days and challenges.
"When you know your why, you'll know your way." – Michael Hyatt
Linking purpose to impact.
Anyone reading this article will be doing so as they want to achieve an outcome. They want to feel that they are moving towards the direction that will provide most fulfilment and help them be the best version of themselves for their local authority, but without sacrificing any aspect of themselves along the way.
You are now going to create a purpose impact plan.
Your purpose impact plan is a detailed document that progresses your purpose statement and turns it into meaningful action. As it is actions not words that truly matter.
"Well done is better than well said." – Benjamin Franklin
Developing your purpose impact plan.
Start with your purpose statement, which then follows with the why.
Make a statement around how you are going to lead.
Take a moment to visualise the impact on your local authority of your leadership approach and purpose statement and write down what you foresee and aspire your approach to have on yourself, the local authority and the community you serve. Be sure to write down the emotions that this conjures. This is the fuel to sustain you, whenever you need it. If we link our motivation to the continuous pursuit of living our purpose and realising the potential of our purpose impact plan, that is an unlimited dopamine fuel source. It can never be depleted.
Create a five year destination where you want your purposes to take you and then break this down into smaller chunks. Set incremental goals and ensure that build in review sessions with a trusted advisor, so that you keep accountability to the pursuit of your purpose plan.
Ensure to take a holistic view of what success looks like at each stage. Don’t ignore the life that you have outside of work, as it fundamentally shapes what you deliver at work.
Don’t try and make the wording corporate. Ensure that your voice is heard from the paper. This is specific to you not just to anyone who has your job role.
Now that you have your purpose plan, you have a tool that can provide a mechanism by which you can live and work in a way that provides you the potential to thrive, at both work and home. It is impossible for every action to take you towards your purpose, but by engaging in this process, building in review meetings and then consciously making decision based on your purpose statement and purpose impact plan, you will be happier and you are so much more likely to achieve your aspirations. Living in alignment with your performance is the equivalent of flying in the jet stream. I am excited to see how far this will take you. Good luck.
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