Aligning Personal and Professional Purpose with Your Values

The next step to setting a successful vision is reflecting on your personal and professional purpose. Raising self-awareness is key, and this exercise can help.

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Take a moment to reflect:

What are the commonalities between your personal and professional self?

What is your purpose?

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Recently, I spent time comparing my favorite activities outside of work with those I enjoy most in my coaching and leadership. It turns out... they have more in common than I realized.

Outside of Work

Gardening: It gives me the opportunity to create. That creativity is in the form of designing garden layouts, planting based upon site needs such as sun, soil, and drainage. It expands to my kitchen when I grow vegetables and fruit to cook or bake.

Cycling: Encourages me to explore my neighborhood from a different perspective, without the comfort and convenience of a car.

International Travel: Enables me to practice perspective-taking and explore the unknown.

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At Work

I have built a career in leading and driving change. I have a passion for leading organizational change, developing talent, and speaking to share my knowledge, along with a constant appetite for learning.

Early in 2024: As I embarked on my journey to create a coaching program, I developed a list of brand values. The words I listed were: growth, success, adventure, pleasure, and excitement.

Professional Growth

I remember when I was promoted to VP of Sales. When I asked what the expectation would be in this new role, my manager simply said, “sell more.” Admittedly, I was perplexed. There was no structure, no formal change in expectations from being the sales manager. In hindsight, it was the kind of challenge I loved. It gave me the opportunity to create and experiment. Sure, I made plenty of mistakes just like in gardening. Yes, the stakes were higher, but the principle was the same.

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Learning and Development

My passion for growth and success is fulfilled by a curiosity for learning. I read my share of leadership books and listened to podcasts (and still do). When I was promoted to sales manager and again to VP of Sales, both times, I had to become the manager of my former peer group. Talk about some learning lessons. Relationships change; new boundaries are set. There is managing individual contributors and managing managers. I learned that neither age nor tenure at a company indicates maturity. It’s the experience and applying those experiences to consider a new perspective, just like in cycling.

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

In 2021, I was asked to be on a virtual panel. Prior to that, panels and speaking opportunities came to my manager, not me. I was apprehensive. Being on stage or front and center wasn’t comfortable for me. As much as I dreamed of having my name in lights as a child—so much so that I took theater classes in junior high—I didn’t become a famous person. I actually played characters that were mostly in the background, quiet and introspective. Anyway, I actively participated in the panel. Afterward, the moderator asked if I ever come to Europe. What? I would jump at the chance to get on a plane and go back to Europe. I had visited with my husband in 2018 and couldn’t wait to return and explore some more. Fast forward to June 2022, I traveled to Geneva to speak at the FuturePrint Leaders Summit. It was my sense of adventure, growth, and pleasure coming to the forefront.

Connecting the Dots

As I compare these experiences, I see how the dots of my personal and professional life are connected. In the early part of my professional career, I compartmentalized the personal and professional. I believed I was one way at home and another at work. While that may have been true, I’m not sure I had the confidence to show up as my authentic self.

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Conclusion

Reflect on what you love. What aspects excite you? How can you craft a vision to lead change and create an environment or culture in your departments that align with your values both personally and professionally?

Take it a step further: How do these align with the values and purpose of the organization? Creating this harmony can set the foundation for leading with authenticity, personal and professional development, and raising self-awareness. This alignment is crucial as we move to the next step in my signature SPARK Method.

Take it a step further: How do these align with the values and purpose of your organization? Creating this harmony can set the foundation for leading with authenticity, personal and professional development, and raising self-awareness. This alignment is crucial as we move to the next step in my signature SPARK Method.