Purpose with a Small "p"
I've written before about purpose with a big “P”. It’s now time to talk about purpose with a little “p”.
Purpose with a big “P” is about the importance of having a meaningful leadership purpose. A reason for exercising leadership that galvanizes you into action. Something that is bigger than you that is trying to live through you. For example, a good friend of mine is on a mission to make the people of the world healthier and happier. That's a pretty big and ambitious reason for him getting out there and influencing thousands of people to make better lifestyle choices.
Another friend is a Buddhist Llama and world expert in mindfulness. His leadership purpose is to help spread the benefits of mindfulness to an increasingly stressed and distracted world. That's Purpose with a big “P”.
Just as important though is to think about purpose with a little “p”. By this I mean paying attention to our many daily interactions and activities and becoming conscious and deliberate with making them count.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. I regularly speak with executives and professionals about the many meetings they have. Often they complain about the number of meetings they have to fit in, seemingly forever in meetings and never getting the real work done.
Now, a meeting is inherently not a bad thing. In fact, they are essential to achieving important things like sharing information, solving problems, reviewing plans or even just plain old trust building. The problem though is that the purpose of meeting is not always clear, or agreed by everyone in the room. As a result the meeting discussion swirls and flows without anything concrete being formed and agreed. No wonder people are distracted by their iPhones or whatever is going on outside the meeting room window!
Purpose with a little “p” is about making every moment count. In the case of meetings, it’s about getting crystal clear about the reason for the meeting and exercising leadership to ensure that purpose is achieved. In our daily lives it involves getting focused on why we are investing our time in any given activity.
I’ve been particularly focused on my little “p’s” recently. I make my meetings shorter, because when you have a clear purpose, you find ways of getting there faster and more efficiently. I also question every meeting. What is its purpose? If there is not one, or its not compelling, I ask why should we have it?
Being more deliberate and conscious with my attention and awareness, I have also found myself getting a lot more done. I now spend less time on purposeless activities i.e. surfing the net or Facebook, watching pointless TV shows, and more time being fully in the moment with whatever I am doing, because I have made a deliberate choice to do something intentional and deliberate.
Have a think about it. Take just a minute to ask yourself what opportunities there are in your day, and be clearer and committed to the purpose of each investment of your time. I’m sure you will find plenty of opportunities to find purpose with a small “p”.