Working On Purpose

Everyone deserves to have photos that are as impressive and beautiful as they are in real life. Capturing our “story” and who we really are as we live our purpose is incredibly compelling and ushers people toward us who opt into our energy and vitality. And doing ourselves justice means working with a professional who knows how to capture our truth and elicit our essence. This is an intimate, trusting, transformative interaction between you and the person who captures your soul. The resulting images attract magnetically to those who dwell, or desperately want to dwell, in your purposeful world.

Did you know your pet comes into your life to teach you specific lessons? And that he also has his own life mission? I didn’t either until I talked with Dr. Joanne Lefebvre. There is so much we can learn about ourselves and the planet we all share, if only we’ll suspend our anthropocentric view of how the world works and listen to and be present with our beloved pets. In doing so, we will become not only better versions of ourselves, but may even further discover or deepen our own purpose.

Life can serve up some powerful punches that can seem incredibly cruel and unfair while in the throes of wrestling with them. Often, hardship is a tremendous opportunity in disguise to discover just who and what we can become in life. It’s so important to remember that we always have the freedom to choose our attitudinal stance to whatever pummeling life serves up. We can see ourselves as hopeless victims of an unfair fate. Or we can reach down deep into our core while focusing on serving others as we dig out way out, which is the route Karen Millsap took. She is a beautiful example of a person transformed through her response to gut-wrenching hardship who now lives a meaningful life of passion and purpose helping others heal and enjoy greater well-being.

There is a meaning crisis on a global scale that is draining the life out of people and the organizations that employ them. People hunger for meaningful connection with others, a life and work of purpose, and to enjoy a bigger, more beautiful life. And yet, there is so much employees, leaders and organizations can do to alter this tide and humanize the workplace while not just turning a profit but making the world a better place. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Pattakos, aka “Dr. Meaning,” about how individuals can empower themselves, and leaders and organizations can implement, the new discipline called MEANINGology® to advance the human quest for meaning in life, work, and society.

Have you ever felt an irresistible nudge encouraging you to step outside of your comfort zone? According to Wei-Li Shao, more often than not, this nudge isn’t a question, but rather an answer. After spending 18 years in the pharma industry and experiencing a severe health scare, Wei-Li decided to take the leap and pursue what he calls his “2.0”. In this episode, we hear Wei-Li’s story in depth -- highlighting the moment he learned of a sudden brain tumor, and the journey it took for him to heal and finally feel a sense of “home” after switching industries to work at Omada Health. While many of us wait for something to force us outside of our comfort zone, Wei-Li encourages us to take our nudges seriously and take action through a series of bite-sized steps. Be prepared to be inspired, deeply moved, a bit shaken off your feet.

As the world changes, so must our marketing and strategic orientation to it. Gone are the days of competitive advantage to best peers and emerge as number one in the marketplace. We are now in an era of collaborating with all manner of unlikely suspects including our customers, suppliers, and even our competitors. Our major business and societal problems cannot be solved alone. It is time to unleash our unique ability as a species to strategically cooperate, mobilize contributors, foster innovation, and open the field of resources available to us to achieve the impactful results desired.

It’s never too late to “hack your career” and create the life you ache for. Of course, you’ll need a system that engages your heart, head, and body and keeps you in “kinetic action” toward working on that audacious goal. We talk with the Talent Architect Melerick Mitchell about his proven system to help you spring yourself from an apathetic or under-fulfilling career to one that gives you greatest access to making the impact worthy of your one, precious life. You will walk away with a strategy and tools to launch you on your new journey!

Young girls and women across the world can do so much when educated and inspired to live and work to their fullest full potential. What’s needed for girls and women of all ages is a community that nurtures and feeds their growth and development, that teaches them to serve others through humanitarian causes which develops critical self-esteem and confidence, and that gives them access to inspiring examples of girls and women making a profound difference through their work and service. And certainly, girls and women are at their best when they discover and nurture their passion and purpose and then bring their talents mightily into the world to make the impact they deserve and all of us desperately need.

Companies increasingly need a high-performing workforce contributing their full talents in order to remain competitive, especially at a time when unemployment is at the unprecedented rate of 3.8 percent. Yet, many organizations opt to spend precious budget on recruitment at the expense of investing in engagement and retention. Leaders can create work environments, job tasks, and team interactions that elicit persistence, intensity, and discretionary effort that really makes a difference to the bottom line. What they need to distinguish is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and to leverage the power of a “pull through” plan.

Most of us will wrestle with some existential angst over the course of our lives, pondering the essence of our existence and our place in the world. We may dive deeply into a spiritual quest, determined to learn some answers for ourselves. And we may plunge ourselves into completely new personal and professional situations, ever trying to find where we are “supposed” to be in life. But few of us will embark on the intense pursuit of adventure as guest Sophie McLean has been on, yearning to discover an existential meaning and escape the tedious routine of her life. Having had to confront sadness and despair, she chose numerous experiential and spiritual expeditions to develop her consciousness and competencies. Today she is riveted on supporting public figures and world leaders to end the eternal search for oneself and serve their best game in service of humankind.

Everyone wants to matter, to make a difference in the time they are walking across the planet. One potent way to matter is to be a leader. And whether your leadership is based on position, expertise, or character – or all three, it is powered by influence, which can be developed in a variety of ways. This episode draws from the leadership lessons in the book, Growing Influence: A Story of How to Lead with Character, Expertise, and Impact by Ron Price and Stacy Ennis.

Never doubt the impact of living your purpose and speaking that truth can have. Bob Hopkins is a Dallas philanthropist who has been teaching elementary school children across the world how to volunteer in order to help them become the best version of themselves and contribute dynamically to their communities. In this episode, we talk about some of his programs and the effect they had on then 9-year old Amit Banerjee who could never forget Bob’s words. He took them home with him and they completely transformed his family conversations and actions to embrace philanthropy. Now at age 20 Amit is running Philanthropy Kids to keep his mission alive and growing by celebrating and inspiring philanthropy in the next generation of youth.

Starting with the end in mind is a powerful way to steward our lives. All of us hunger to know we matter, that our existence makes a difference in the world somehow. Yet, creating a life of meaningful connection, service to others, and legacy is within our grasp when we reverse engineer our lives. In this episode, we talk with Rabbi Daniel Cohen about the importance of doing so and the rich results it brings.

For some, the path to purpose is about healing what is broken in us. It’s a call to finally embrace and lean into treating that which has ailed us often for decades. There is a tendency to be reluctant to accept the call, as the forces pulling us away from that which we were intended test us mightily. In this episode, we hear how Scott Wilson’s crucible moment ultimately gave him the invitation he needed to give up his chase for money and prestige, and surrender to a life of service, gratitude, and considerably more peace and meaningful connection.

Forward-thinking companies serious about remaining vibrant and competitive recognize the need and benefit to develop women as strong contributing, fulfilled professionals and thought leaders. Women lean toward creating environments where team members are supported in their own growth, enjoy collaborating, and are encouraged to step out and innovate. Yet the corporate environment may not recognize the unique development needs of women and can be hostile as they try to balance growing their career with family demands. Thus, women often choose to depart, creating a performance and innovation vacuum inside companies. Diane and Alise converse on how observing these trends led them to convene the Women on Purpose Thought Leadership Summit in Portland, OR Sept 2019. Designed to bring women from across the nation together to engage deeply in the latest best practices of fulfillment, engagement, well-being, and leadership and cascade the ripple effect back into their respective organizations.

Becoming present to your purpose and then opting in can be seen as your life’s evolutionary opportunity. What if you consider that your job in life is to become conscious and present to your purpose, and then live it as large as you can to make the most impact you can on the planet and make the world a better place? Would that change the choices you make, the work you do, and how you live your one precious life? Learning how our ego keeps us in survival and growing into our essence is a start. Guest: Karen Hoyos

Staying relevant today in business often requires scaling and growing the operation. In addition to addressing the critical processes and procedures to support growth, leaders can powerfully leverage culture to drive top line and bottom-line revenue growth. When done well, a healthy culture shows up with a vibrant, engaged workforce that is focused on outstanding customer service and mutual admiration and respect among coworkers. The pinnacle of all these activities spurring growth is strong leadership, the absence of which is extremely palpable and obvious in daily operations and the financial strength of the organization’s ability to effectively compete in the marketplace.

In the crazy hustle of today’s busy life, people crave meaning and purpose. Meaning is literally everywhere, though up to each of us to uniquely find and embrace it. Logotherapy is not just a theory of psychology, but a way of life that focuses on making life meaningful. Add purpose – which includes a focus on something and others beyond ourselves – and now you’ve got an irresistible mix that makes all the difference in the world to life. As guest Batya Yaniger says, life calls us to courage, calls us to compassion and calls us to authentic being. Viewed in this light, struggles and challenges are a call to action and a path to meaning.

Growing up and graduating high school comes with a lot of stress and pressure in today’s exceedingly competitive times. And in a world so connected by technology, it is ironic that so many of us do not feel meaningfully connected to other people. Experiencing bouts of anxiety and depression is normal for teens – but asking for help from adults (and not fellow students and friends) is not common. Teen rock star Griffin Holtby (www.griffinholtby.com) shares about his own experience with depression, anxiety, and abandonment and how talking about them openly and “telling his story” while singing on stage has helped his own healing and facilitated that of countless others.

According to Dr. Ciaramicoli, a “soulful leader” is a leader who leads with authenticity, integrity, and empathy. And we can all tell on a visceral level when we’re in the presence of such a leader. Not only do such leaders employ empathy, which is a powerful assessment and connector tool, but when they lead with “soul” they produce higher financial bottom line results than their colleagues. It turns out that creating and leading a workplace that is meaningfully connected and soulfully led also creates competitive advantage.