Finding your purpose is perhaps one of the main actions you can do as an entrepreneur to be more resilient., face and overcome the challenges of your business. When we have a bigger reason than just making money, people work more happily to achieve our goals.
Realizing ourselves as people is a reward that can be much greater or that at least complements the economic gain that a job or a business gives us. This is why all of us who undertake must work continuously to find, be clear about, and build our purpose.
A reason for being and being in business
Not only that, but it is also something that we must help our team to do, since like us, those collaborators who personally fulfill themselves in your venture will give much more than those who are only there to earn the fortnight.
There is nothing more dangerous in a venture, especially in the early stages in which each person is indispensable, than a person who only wants to make the minimum effort to get paid and go home.
Note: helping the people on your team find their purpose is not a tool to justify paying less or demanding more work hours. Rather, your responsibility as a leader must be that the people who are working with you to build your dream realize themselves. May your work be part of what builds your happiness.
For this reason, I have always said that one of Disruptivo’s main values is: “People come first.”
But how to find your purpose?
When you want to find your purpose, don’t be like Shakira: “I looked for you on the streets. where your mother in paintings by Botero; in my purse, in two thousand religions. I looked for you even in my songs”.
(Ok, ok. And I’m a dad, it’s worth a #DadJoke per note)
Instead of looking at a Colombian rock record from the 90s, we can better see what the magazine tells us Harvard Business Review about the theme.
In 2017, Kristi Hedges, an expert in Leadership Development and author of the bestsellers The Power of Presence and The code of inspiration, tells us that there are five questions you must ask yourself to find your purpose. You should also ask your team to help them find their reason for being and being.
The 5 questions are:
1. What are you good for?
- What activities require less effort?
- What actions/projects do you take because you consider that you are the best person to do it?
- What things have led you to be recognized throughout your career?
It is key that we know how to identify our strengths, since that will be a starting point to find your purpose.
Some even say (and I agree), that instead of working on reducing your weaknesses and having a “complete” profile, you should focus mainly on making your strengths bigger and bigger (if you want to stand out).
2. What do you like to do?
- In a normal week, what things do you aspire to do because you like them?
- What activities on your calendar give you energy?
- If you could design your work without restrictions, how would you spend your time?
With these questions, you will be able to find, or rediscover, what it is that you love about your job.
I strongly believe that if you are going to undertake and in case you are going to take a mega scrub and face great challenges, the least you should look for is that you like what you do, and not that you work on something that you do not like only because you think it’s a good way to make money.
3. What feels most useful?
- What results of your work make you feel most proud?
- Which of your tasks are most critical for the team or the company?
- What are the most important priorities in your life, and how does your work fit into them?
The work we do has a value in itself, there is work that is more relevant than another, in fact, many times we do work that we feel is a waste of time.
Identifying what feels most useful will help you find your purpose.
4. What gives you a sense of forward momentum?
- What are you learning that will help you in the future?
- What do you envision for yourself going forward, especially your next step?
- How does your work today bring you closer to what you want for yourself?
When we stop growing, we start to stagnate. Both you and your team, if you feel stuck, will start to do one of two things:
- Begin to exert minimal effort and lose interest in your work or
- Start looking for something different to leave.
This question is intended to help you and your team visualize how their work today will help them reach their future goals.
5. How do you relate to others?
- What alliances at work are the best for you?
- What would an office look like with your favorite people?
- How does your job improve your family and social connections?
I am convinced that no one can be complete alone; we are social animals. Personal relationships are key to each of us. That’s why it’s important to think and ask yourself: how am I building relationships that will make my work more meaningful?
build a SUPER team with a simple conversation
If you’re still not convinced about the importance of finding your purpose and helping your team find theirs, don’t take my word for it, take the experts’ word for it.
In a study published by Deloitte, one of the most important consulting firms in the world, it was found that the millennial generation values the purpose of a company as one of the main reasons for working, staying and growing in a company.
The study ensures that “personal values are the main influence in the decision making of millennials”, and that 57% are “significantly influenced by the purpose of the company in their decision making.”
In fact, according to the study, “Millennials consider staying five or more years in companies whose purpose goes beyond profit and aligns with their personal purpose.”
Two of the biggest challenges you will face as an entrepreneur are building a great team and maintaining your resilience in the face of the challenges and adversity of entrepreneurship.
Just like Nick Fury in The Avengerspushes the Avengers to organize as a team after Loki kills Agent Phil Coulson, giving them a common purpose, so you already know that building a strong sense of purpose will be like putting on Iron Man armor. This will help you to build a great team that will make the Avengers look like newbies.
john del cerro I am convinced of the potential of social entrepreneurship to solve major social problems, I am the Founder of Disruptivo.tv and Socialab México, winner of the National Entrepreneur Award from the Presidency, LinkedIn TOP Voice, part of Forbes 30 Promises for Business, Gifted Citizen, and received the Impulso Emprendedor Award from ASEM. I am a Founding Member of ASEM, author of 5 books on entrepreneurship, speaker on 4 continents and TEDx speaker.