9 questions to discover your purpose

9 questions to discover your personal purpose was originally published in Turbocharge Weekly, an email-based newsletter written by Lisa Carlin, Fractional Strategist and Chief Transformation Officer.

This is about personal purpose, as that is where it all starts. There are 9 questions for you to discover your personal purpose. And I explain my own purpose, my “why”, as an example.

If you’re a Founder/CEO of a startup/scaleup, your purpose and story can sharpen your focus. It will also bring more of yourself into the purpose, culture and ethos of your business.

If you’re working within a business, being clear on your own purpose will help you answer the question that people have been increasingly asking since the pandemic: am I working in the right place? Am I contributing in the right way? Is this how I want to spend my time, and if not, what could be better for me?

If you don’t believe purpose is important, see Simon Sinek’s “Power of Why” TED Talk (almost 60m views).

So, to understand your own purpose, sit down in a quiet spot and write down answers to these questions below, which will help you reach more clarity on your own “why”.

It may help you to read my story and purpose, and give you some ideas. There are no rules, as long as it is authentic to you. If you have trouble answering some questions, ask someone who knows you well to give you some suggestions. Even if they are wrong, it will help you discover what is right.

Besides triggering some ideas, I also offer my story below, so you can understand what my newsletter is about.

My story

My background growing up in the ugly apartheid era in South Africa has deeply influenced what I do. When I was a teenager, I have a clear memory of meeting a younger black girl. Her mother worked for our family and lived with us, which meant she was being raised by her grandparents in a village.

She said to me as a statement of fact, without malice or blame: “Lisa, you’re white, you’re born with a bank account”. The realization of how wrong the whole system was hit me in that moment. That by accident of birth, I was able to access opportunities that were not available to her. She had no voice in her own life.

I felt guilty and powerless. I had no voice in the system.

After that I joined a social cross-cultural group aimed to develop relationships and social awareness. It was later banned by the regime. Again no voice.

I continue today to strive to make a difference, both to workplaces and education, giving people a voice. Personal growth and education are the way out of poverty to financial independence.

I taught myself to code in BASIC when I was 16 and have been hooked on technology ever since. Workplace technology is particularly fascinating to me as it can make huge improvements to people’s lives at work. Technology gives people a voice.

My work focus

I work mainly with disruptive digital workplace technology — where the focus is on people and productivity improvements at scale. I take a human-centred approach to everything: thinking about customers, employees, business partners, investors and the community.

I’m grounded in making commercial business decisions, as you can’t make any improvements without productivity and economic growth.

5 key themes

This leads me to 5 themes in my work:

• Strategic planning: designing strategy processes, facilitating workshops and ensuring your strategy is feasible and can be implemented
• AI strategies: guiding you on where to start, brainstorming use cases and co-designing strategies and projects with you
• Strategy execution and business transformation: supporting you to de-riosk and deliver strategic projects (I’ve delivered over 50 of these, mainly in the program manager/director roles)
• Culture: fostering a work culture where people can perform at their best, and considering how to get things done in your culture at scale
• Workplace technology — building B2B SaaS businesses and digital transformation in enterprises

My purpose statement:

My purpose is GROWTH: business growth, growth of self and others, growth of community.

I encourage you to share your personal purpose in the comments, and share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues.

PS How you can Turbocharge your strategic projects

Join almost 8,000 business leaders in subscribing to Turbocharge Weekly.

Based on my learnings from over 50 implementations, so that you don’t have to learn the hard way.

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About the author, Lisa Carlin

Lisa Carlin is a Fractional Strategist, with a bias for tangible action.

She guides business leaders to plan and execute their strategies in tough environments. Her clients love having an independent sounding board and expert advice, so they can navigate their workplace culture and deliver their plans confidently. AI is now a major part of Lisa’s focus: developing effective AI strategies to fast track success.

Lisa’s career includes roles at McKinsey and Accenture, then running her own business since 1999. When she’s not at work, she’s gardening with the dogs.

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Contact info

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