Yes, this is a real thing and the last 20+ years of working with entrepreneurs and business owners have shown me that this is the true value I bring to business – to push folks to reground themselves in WHY and build from there.
Part of my intro lately involves me saying, “I come into your life when it’s time to pick your nose up from the grindstone and see the bigger picture.” This is the classic forest from the trees metaphor, and I am admittedly a forest person. Not to say the individual trees aren’t important, it’s just that I find my clients focusing on the patterns in the bark for too long and losing the connection to the forest as a whole.
It got me thinking about my own forest – what’s the big picture? What’s the thing I care about and what’s my big WHY? It hit me that over the past 7.75 years, what I’ve actually been doing as a coach and facilitator is serving as a Fractional Purpose Officer, someone who comes into people’s lives to help them define their big WHY? With teams, with founders, with individuals, with boards, and, if you know me at all, with random people I meet along the way. This is the reason Balanceo exists – to build the environment for you to Do Your Life’s Work, starting with purpose definition – finding the WHY? And using it as a guide for every decision.
Twice a year I visit Stanford University Graduate School of Business for the graduation of the LBAN/Latino Business Action Network Scaling and Accelerator Program where I lead roundtables on the topic of purpose, which is always such an honor. During these biannual events, I always make it a point to connect with one of the main proponents of purpose – Professor Jerry Porras (pictured here with yours truly). Alongside Jim Collins, he led the research in Built to Last that spelled out the power of purpose – citing it as a main feature of the businesses that make it for decades in a world where 50% don’t make it 5 years and 66% don’t make it 10 years.
What’s the message? Go slow to go fast. Pick your head up. See the forest. Define your purpose. Do Your Life’s Work. I have seen these messages lead to millions in financial growth, employees count, and addition of services/products. Most importantly, it serves as a base for people to Do Your Life’s Work because they are connected to something deeper when they step into the work quadrant of their life with a deep sense of connection to their work.
The process is long, it’s messy, and it’s worth it. Research continually backs it up, anecdotal evidence is overwhelming and now it’s time for you to take the first steps into the forest of purpose and (re)start your journey.
