Denise is a leadership/talent development expert, executive coach, board member for ICF and Maxwell Leadership, and author of Twelve Days.
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The last few years have been chock-full of change and challenge. Transformation and transition continue to be standard. Employees are either adapting or changing. What has not changed is the quest for significance and meaning in work. Where does the daily grind intersect with seeking passion, potential and purpose? What is the right balance?
HR focuses on the surface of talent development for growth and retention, but does it really address our intrinsic desire for living a life of purpose and meaning?
Studies show engagement, productivity, innovation and competitive advantage are all tied to employee performance and leadership trust. The 2022 Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report estimates only 21% of employees are engaged at work. Think about that—that means 8 out of 10 people are not. Stress is high and well-being is low.
This downward trend of engagement contributes to a $7.8 trillion deficit in the economy according to the study.
Gallup CEO John Clifton made a point specific to burnout (a key contributor to low engagement). Sources of workplace fatigue are overwhelmingly tied to bad bosses and poor management.
"The real fix is this simple: better leaders in the workplace," Clifton wrote. "Managers need to be better listeners, coaches and collaborators. Great managers help colleagues learn and grow, recognize their colleagues for doing great work, and make them truly feel cared about. In environments like this, workers thrive."
Poor management, lack of vision and trust at leadership levels, and more work than there is time in a day lead to an imbalance, higher stress and burnout, and lower engagement.
What about you? When inwardly focusing on our passions, lifting potential through continuous learning and leaning into purpose through our talents, skills and abilities, we have keys to unlocking a life of significance, not just success—and definitely not just a daily grind.
Do you love what you do? Are you good at it? Are you working in a culture that resonates with your values? Do you feel you are getting paid fairly for the exchange of your time and talents? Are you engaging in things at work that make a difference in the greater good of the world? These are all questions to ask ourselves in the quest for finding the intersections of passion, potential and purpose.
There is a compelling case to be made for how to ensure that you are aligned with your best self—the sweet spot for balanced living. Now more than ever, personal development is as critical of a focus area as technical skills and operational knowledge.
Here are five practical keys to unlocking your thoughts, exploring your beliefs and taking action to get different results and outcomes for what you want from life:
1. Think
Everything first starts as a thought. Think about where you are right now.
• Are you energized, engaged and excited each day? This is a passion question.
• Is there something you have always wanted to do but haven’t? This is a potential question.
• Do you feel like you are on a hamster wheel and not really following your desires in life? This is a purpose question.
2. Do
This is about action. Write down these three things:
• This is what I am truly passionate about:
• This is something I would like to learn more about:
• This is something I believe I have been "called" to do:
3. Beliefs
This is about why you do not already have the things you think you want. This is a combo exercise—think about and then write down your thoughts on these three things:
• What or who is a barrier to me moving closer to my passions in life?
• What or who is preventing me from reaching my potential in life?
• What or who is making it difficult for me to walk in my purpose in life?
4. Review
This key is harder to turn than the others. Now it's time to review where you are, what you want and the reasons or causes that you have or do not have what you want in life. Here are some deep-reflection questions:
• If you had what you think you want, how would that change your life? How important is it to you on a scale of one to 10 to have those changes? How urgent is it on a scale of one to 10 for you to have those changes?
• Do you really want those things, or are they just dreams? You will have to change something you do have today if you want to do or have something different tomorrow.
• Review section three one more time. Is a person or thing really stopping or blocking something from you? How true is that? How difficult is it to navigate around and through that?
5. Action
Now it's time to take action. The best singers and athletes have coaches. The best business executives have assistants. The best teams have trainers.
• Who you learn from and with matters.
• How you invest spend, or waste your time matters.
• How you think and what you believe about those thoughts matters.
Why? Your thoughts and beliefs determine your actions that turn into results, and the results are outcomes in your life. Therefore, the keys to unlocking different outcomes and results in life are:
• Take action.
• Be realistic about why you have not already taken action.
• Be aware of barriers so that you can navigate around and through them.
• Proclaim why you want something different than you have today.
• Take control of your thoughts and investigate if you really need a shift in your thinking.
Conclusion
Personal development has never been more essential to growth, fulfillment, purpose and significance in life. This is about more than work, tasks and metrics. This is about life satisfaction, balance and joy. What do you want more of in life? What do you want less of? What is the gap between the two? These are just starting points that you can explore and journal and take action on alone. But if you want and need to go deeper—engaging with a certified and experienced coach can help you on your road to growth and significance.
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