What’s your leader intent?
We all need intent in life. In many ways, intent and purpose are synonymous, and shortly after launching HEX, our very own Katy published a blog on how she was finding her new purpose as an entrepreneur and business owner. She talked about John Coleman’s article in HBR ‘You don’t find your purpose, you build it’, saying that there are some common misconceptions about purpose, such as:
· purpose is only a thing you find;
· purpose is a single thing; and
· purpose is stable over time.
Katy agreed with Coleman that purpose shifts through time and isn’t just about professional purpose. We can think about our purpose like a pie, with slices dedicated to different parts of our professional and personal lives. The size of each slice doesn’t stay constant, and our purpose shifts as we go through life. The same can be said for intent.
But what about leadership intent? As we develop our intentional leadership programme, we’re focussing on how we can support leaders to check their leadership privilege and the impact that they have to become more deliberate, thoughtful, and impactful. And central to this is considering what sort of leader you want to be.
A key part of intentional leadership is taking time to reflect. Effective reflection takes time and discipline, it means taking yourself away from the pressures and priorities of life and considering what’s going well and what needs to change. Sometimes this can be uncomfortable – but it’s worth it.
So, why not put 30 minutes aside, find a quiet corner, and ask yourself a few questions:
what is the core intent of my leadership and the ways in which it makes the world better?
how can I lean into that intent or craft my day-to-day work to emphasise it?
who are the key relationships in my work, and how can I intentionally deepen and enrich them?
who am I serving in my work, and what more can I do to serve others?
how am I becoming better each day?
Do this, and take some positive action, and we promise that you’ll see positive improvements in your team’s culture, performance, and well-being.
Coleman also said in his article ‘Finding success starts with finding your purpose’ that a flourishing life is full of purpose. As leaders, we are privileged to have the opportunity to positively impact those that work for us and those around us. Let’s appreciate that privilege and strive to be better.
