Messy Lesson: How to discover the power of professional purpose.

Feb 14

There is a magical power in understanding our professional purpose for the first time. It’s like opening a treasure chest and discovering that what’s inside, is the missing piece to the jigsaw to our professional world. All of a sudden, the clouds of confusion lift and the landscape, along with our place within it, becomes crystal clear.

We can meander through our professional lives like a steel ball in a pinball machine. Ricocheting from here to there without intent because an opportunity seems like a good idea at the time. We become qualified, experienced and chase job titles, yet we are never quite fulfilled. “It pays the bills”, “I’ve plenty of time, the right job will turn up eventually” we tell ourselves. In doing so, relinquishing our professional fulfilment to the control of the universe. Out of our hands.

Professional purpose isn’t a job title.

It’s having the awareness of the difference we make and understanding how it impacts those we serve.

It requires us to:

look outward rather than inward
give rather than take
abandon the mental fossils that are pre-conceived ideas from our past
be continually curious and humble - as we never can and never will, know everything
understand how our strengths and preferences can bring our purpose to life

The realisation that I was going to have to breakup with a job I loved because it was no long working for my family, was in short, heartbreaking. I didn’t know what I wanted, all I knew was I could no longer have this. I was lost.

While the job title became a part of my past, my purpose was very much a part of my present and ready to be built upon.

When I was at ground zero, how did I use my purpose to rebuild a new professional me?

1) I reflected on when I felt most alive.

When all parts of me felt energised. When I was bounding out of bed, my brain bursting with ideas and concocting how to bring those ideas to life in my customers world. I might add, this wasn’t necessarily when I had achieved success or performed at my best.

I learnt a successful outcome on paper can camouflage a person’s professional well-being.

I had to decipher what it was about these situations that brought out my best to understand which pieces to take with me into my future, and which to leave behind.

2) I had to challenge my thinking and embrace feedback.

I sought feedback from those whose opinions mattered most, ready to accept whatever it was I heard.

I was conscious to sought a variety of opinions to minimise bias and fully understand the perception of me through alternative lens’. While at the onset, I was full of fear and trepidation, I relaxed once I realised these people were in my corner. They told me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. It was a safe space, not a doting, self-serving space.

I posed questions that would give me factual information I could use, not see the conversation stall in the weeds of emotion.

I quickly learnt to love the information I was hearing; the good, the bad and the surprising. There was opportunity for change behind each word.

3) I delved deep into my sales professional brain to understand my market and create a strategy to market my impact - to sell myself.

How did that align? I learnt I am my happiest in unchartered waters. In places where my busy brain can be; relentlessly curious, connect with people, build relationships and join the dots of possibility. I thrive on making sense of new market landscapes and mining for opportunities for businesses to grow through the discovery of mutual purpose with their own clients. As a sales professional, this I could work with!

I learnt individual professional purpose is as universal as it is transferable across industry.

Today, I define my success by how effective I have been in bringing my professional purpose to life. Not by numbers. Not by recognition. Not by dollars. They are wonderful, but not essential to my success or happiness. It is a definition much more fulfilling and kinder on my mind than any I have had in the past.

While a part of me feels naïve for not having embraced this mindset until now, I am relieved I now understand its power and how to bring it to life.

While we shed job titles, our purpose is always with us – remember though, it’s up to us to keep its heartbeat alive.

How can you invest in your professional purpose today, not that of your organisation - yours?

Peta x

More insights in my book - My Beautiful Mess.