Leading with a Purpose

It has been an interesting week for me.

I have, so far, raised about NZ$795 for Kids with Cystic Fibrosis (Breath4CF) - the adopted charity of Ironman New Zealand. My business associate has pledged another $1,000 and that means that we have significantly exceeded our initial target. I am so grateful to my sponsors/donors for supporting my cause.

One recent donor/sponsor is Aaron Fleming, author of ‘Purpose’. He suffered a collapsed lung twice, and had an addiction to painkillers. By insurmountable odds, he reframed his life, completed three Ironman triathlons, and is now a speaker to kids about the notion of purpose. He was the ambassador for New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics 2008.

During an evening workshop for accountants, an audience member challenged me, indirectly, by concealing a card from me during my performance of a magic trick. I knew that he was either being cheeky or misunderstood my instruction, however decided to stop my questioning of his integrity prematurely. I watched the body language of members of his table, and calibrated these for his truthfulness. I knew that it was pointless to argue with him, despite the fact that he nearly sabotaged my demonstration. I moved on; it was pointless for anyone to lose face. There was a private time for embarrassment, when there was a lesson to be deliberately taught. The large playing card (12” X 6”) was found on the table later. I said: ‘I knew it was there all along! The question is: How did I know?’

The president of the association commended me at the end of my workshop. He was worried that I would be thrown off balance and be upset – which I never telescoped to my audience. He told me that there were, historically, trainers who were annoyed with audience members, and I wasn’t one of them. I always believed that being professional is about not being personal.

Leadership Lessons: It is important to have purpose in our life. Without a strong sense of purpose, we may become aimless and wander from one distraction to another. Purpose gives us a sense of direction, be it a performance target, sales goal, establishing a new relationship or mending picket fences. Finding a cause, and supporting it also creates a sense of purpose, and our actions that follow reflect it. Go on – create your purpose-driven life!