It is shortly after 3:00 pm, I have just completed most of my homework on the bus coming home from school. Upon my arrival home, I immediately get on the telephone and call five of my friends to come over for a game of tackle football. Into the evening, we would play football with great enthusiasm and competitiveness. Those were the days when I took it upon myself to schedule all the neighborhood activities.
I share this story because this is something I greatly enjoyed doing as a child. It was about gathering others around a cause. Boredom was not something I could handle and being active was something I embraced. This was about making my childhood experience better than what it was currently.
What about you? Is there an experience as a child that you loved doing, before parents, teachers or peers told you to stop?
These themes or events are critical for you as capture your leadership vision & purpose. In an article entitled, From Purpose To Impact by Nick Craig and Scott Snook in the Harvard Business Review, only 20% of leaders have a sense of purpose. Leaders without any sense of direction or vision become difficult to follow. They often become micro-managers, lacking enthusiasm & risk self-centeredness.
In order for you to develop your purpose, consider the following steps:
1.) Moments Of Greatness: Complete an audit of your life experiences and document the moments that created great outcomes, great energy and provided you with a sense of purpose.
2.) Feedback: What do your followers think about your previous moments of great energy? In other words, what do others observe are your specific areas of greatness? Find out and see if the answers to #2 correspond with the answers to #1.
3.) Challenging Life Experiences: It is often through difficultly that we identify our cause. How did these challenges shape you and focus you?
4.) What You Enjoy Now: Take a 30 day period and document the activities that meet the following 3 criteria:
a.) You Enjoyed It
b.) You Had Positive Emotion After It Was Over
c.) It Created Positive Results
Once you complete the “Life Audit” process, you can begin to build out your Leadership Profile by answering the following question:
1.) Purpose Statement: Why You Show Up? To do (a,b,c) so that (x,y,z) occurs
2.) Values: What Is Important To You?
3.) Customer: Who Do You Serve?
4.) Results: What Outcomes Do You Want To Create?
From here the key is to focus on your vision vs. the current situation you find yourself in. The vision will keep you from moving to anxiety and freaking out that your current reality is not what you want.
My vision is to see every leader in the city of Indianapolis flourish.