The Plentiful Purpose, Impact for Good & Calling | Newsletter November 2021
The Plentiful Purpose, Impact for Good & Calling | Newsletter November 2021
I am so excited about sharing this November newsletter, I think it is my most important yet. I would love to get your thoughts as many of you have called out your purpose and the high impact work you’ve embarked upon in 2021 and in this month’s newsletter, I wanted to capture your wonderful advice and great inputs.Firstly, let me start with a question: What makes work ‘purposeful’?I believe work is purposeful when it contributes meaning to one's life as an individual and has relevance to the greater community. Remember we are all different; meaningful work to you, may not be meaningful work to someone else - and this is where the joy begins.A while ago, I had a wonderful LinkedIn live conversation on this topic of Purpose, where Cain Ullah, Manny Amadi and I talked about our High Impact Startup Mission Beyond and our National Digital Infrastructure Open Doors. We discussed the importance of companies to think deeply and deliberately about their role in society.
However, since starting these amazing organisations - we have discovered that in order for us to make an impact in society, it calls for us to make sacrifices.In other words, you don’t just “find” your calling, you fight for it‼Finding your calling
It’s one of those phrases people toss about, but StoryCorps founder Dave Isay takes issue with it - specifically, the verb. “Finding your calling, it’s not passive,” he says. “When people have found their calling, they’ve made tough decisions and sacrifices in order to do the work they were meant to do.”“People who’ve found their calling have a fire about them,” says Isay, the winner of the 2015 TED Prize. “They’re the people who are dying to get up in the morning and go do their work.”
Usually, when one has found their calling, we are able to make a positive impact on ourselves and our community around us.The contributions we can make to our own communities is vast and needed at this timeThis revelation was revealed to me after an anniversary trip to San Francisco. On our third night, the lovely Graham and I were at an amazing Michelin starred beautiful restaurant, where I burst into tears... And. Just. Sobbed!.My heart broke when I realised that we were doing all this - and yet thousands of people on the streets of San Francisco were homeless. Mentally and physically very sick and in a hopeless state.Note this - For you to be holistically well, the community you live in must be able to thrive too‼Throughout Covid, we’ve been helping our local community in Cape Panwa Thailand to reskill, refurbish and renew their businesses in the absence of a tourist population. We've been privileged to experience Buddhist and Muslim Thai Communities are realising their full potential despite tough odds.Also in our local community of Oxford, we are honoured to be involved with an amazing Vishuddha Centre, run by James Pritchard and Jaqueline Mangold, as it brings great Yoga and Generosity of Spirit to all those who’d like to embrace it and I am honoured to take up the Chair of the Trustees Role in this amazing Centre of Learning & Grace, it’s making such an important community contribution.I have found that contributing towards my community has helped with my calling, so if you wish to contribute towards your community - here are some practical steps that can help you.
Bringing meaning to our own lives can be designed and it is great to see that many of you resonated with ‘Design for life’ as we connect the dots to finding more meaning in life.I shared Ted Ideas article 'How to use design thinking to create a happier life for yourself', which is practical and visionary and definitely relevant for the world in which we live right now.Simple agile methodologies applied and great advice on how to design your life:📝Connect your dots to find meaning (who you are, what you believe, what you do) - Purpose with a capital P.😫Be wary of gravity problems (challenges one must accept and work through to move on with it) - Managing your impact.3️⃣Do three odyssey plans or three special ideations for your life eg- Life 1 is the life and job that you’re currently living — just make it better.- For Life 2, let’s pretend that your job just doesn’t exist anymore. The AI and robots have come, and your job has disappeared. What are you going to do instead? What will you do if Life 1 goes away?- And for Life 3, this is your wild card plan. What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money? If you had enough money — not so much that you’re fabulously wealthy but enough and to live on — what would you do?🙌Prototype everything; trial it, do a pilot! This is such fun.🙏To choose well, make choices emotional and irrevocable.
A new word for some of us maybe was explained beautifully by Danny Attias in our SONDERSHIP podcast together.A ‘Sonder Moments’ - is when you realize that every single person around you is living a life that is equally as rich, equally as vivid, equally as complex, confusing and enthralling as your own.In the podcast, I detail how these Sonder Moments have emerged into my passion for freedom of thought and speech - and the responsibility that goes with this, in particular during my amazing time at University, in London.
Purpose is now so significant within the workplace, we have a new c-suite role: Chief Purpose Office, which has sparked a conversation.This is a new executive who would lead efforts to set the agenda, own the measures and inform the organisation on what societal issues will be tackled across climate change, inclusion & diversity, sustainability goals, and more. ⠀Companies are increasingly expected by their employees to act with purpose and impact. And in the past, firms generally just had to focus on their bottom lines. Now every political, social and environmental challenge is becoming a corporate concern as well and every employee can influence and affect your brand!
The importance of Purpose within an organisation is revealed by some views from our next generation.I felt it was important to hear how our next generation feels about key emerging themes on the future of work. Where I asked: Will a company's purpose drive you to work for them?Mirek: A clear company's purpose is for me one of the main drivers when thinking about a company as an employer. There is an importance of commitment and promise as foundations of every brand. I think that the post-pandemic times will make many people more sensitive to both the stated purpose, but most of all on what actions are taken and results being seen – how the stated purpose is contributing to the society at large.Emma: Whether a company’s culture and values align with my own personal beliefs is essential to me in deciding where I work. I think an organisation’s action and response on wide scale global issues such as inclusion, sustainability, and climate change are more important considerations than ever. To the next-gen, impact matters and we choose jobs based on how companies act and respond to issues.Abigail: I feel like it is paramount for me to have a sense of purpose - as I will find it hard to motivate myself if I don't believe in the mission, vision + purpose of the organisation. An organisation's purpose is particularly motivating when it is one that I have helped to define. That way it will not only align with the company's goals but also my own values and I can then be confident that what I am doing contributes to the changes I’d like to see.
For many of us Volunteering is an important part of our calling and giving and the NHS manages this superbly.During lockdown 1, I was honoured to help the NHS by volunteering, delivering care packages and packing PPE. I was then accepted as a Vaccine Roll Out Marshall for NHS Volunteers in Oxfordshire - Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
As my wonderful new CMO Abbie says “You can’t pour from an empty cup” so, in order to fulfil the calling on your life, effectively - you need to give time, love and energy to yourself, before serving others.For me, I fill my cup by practising Yoga and contributing to our amazing Vishudda Yoga Centre.As Yoga comes in many forms the minimalist requirements for practising yoga make it perfect for beginners. Combining breath, meditation and movement with physical postures, yoga offers an opportunity for low resistance physical and emotional healing and growth. And with so many proven health benefits.
Plus having a real-life outside of workI have learned that there is a one-dimensional dullness for all to observe about those who only work. Note that having hobbies, friendships, families, sport, volunteering, etc add colour to who we are & how we see the world & our colleaguesThe richness of learning about ourselves as we expand our relationships beyond work-based hierarchies can be invaluable. Rounded, life experienced leaders who’ve divided into different life scenarios tend to develop agility & authenticity suited to these times of lifting high-performance teams in extraordinary ways.
I couldn't talk about Purpose, without updating you about Mission Beyond and Open Doors.We believe that Social Equality is one of the world's greatest challenges - in the U.K. alone failing to improve low levels of social mobility will cost the U.K. economy up to £140 billion per year by 2050 according to the Boston Consulting Group.More equal societies are healthier and more prosperous. At Mission Beyond, we have thought deeply about the response to this huge societal challenge and have created Open Doors and the best solution is to dissolve the barriers between supply and demand, by unlocking an ecosystem of connections and opportunities.The digital infrastructure designed by Red Badger’s brilliant team is centred around young people and their needs. Our plan is to connect over a million young people, breathing life into their economic independence and engage with over a thousand organisations (employers, educational providers and third sector organisations).
We can have a social impact by practising kindness every day at work and in our personal livesWhen I speak to close family and friends, I am struck by the huge need to actively reach out & be kind. Written In 1978, Naomi Shihab Nye captured this difficult, beautiful, redemptive transmutation of fear into kindness in a poem that has since become a classic. Her words include:Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.You must wake up with sorrow.You must speak to it till your voicecatches the thread of all sorrowsand you see the size of the cloth.We should never underestimate the power of kindness, especially in the workplace. Leaders can promote kindness in the remote workplace when they lead by example. They can do so by setting aside time during Zoom meetings for a 'kindness round' in which team members are free to acknowledge each other’s work. They can also consider “peer bonus” systems to encourage employees to send gift cards or rewards to show appreciation. Just two ideas.We can continue with our acts of kindness every day by acting as if we were the community's minister of loneliness.I understand that it sounds like a strange ambition, however the idea came from an article I read where it shared that Japan is beefing up measures against the huge issue of loneliness - and was immediately motivated to learn more!Such is the urgency of the issue that the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga added a Minister of Loneliness to his Cabinet earlier this month, following the UK's example, which in 2018 became the first country to create a similar role.What would I do in this role?1. I would organise through our NHS a mutual mentoring program where companionship could be matched between young and old! See: http://ow.ly/dpE250DNw2p2. I would run 3/4 pilots across the UK with “companion bots” - the Kirobo mini. As an example, see: http://ow.ly/5iLy50DNw2s
To pursue your calling, be prepared to be a changemaker.Spending Time in South East Asia I love this story and top tips from Melati Wijsen who became a changemaker at 12 yrs after founding 'Bye Bye Plastic Bags' with her sister Isabel - a campaign created to rid Bali of single-use plastic bags. I love her awesome advice1. Big visions start small. Melati and her sister would have regular beach clean-ups.2. Understand your audience. Melati and her sister socialised with the students, teachers, women and local authorities in the village to make sure everyone from all levels understood why it was so important to say no to plastic bags.3. Lead the path to success. Melati and her sister would help businesses implement more environmentally friendly alternatives, and host educational workshops to support the village through change.4. Learn from your mistakes fast and with Grace5. Enjoy the journey - it matters but it must be fun
Thank you for reading my purposeful newsletter, and I hope all these ideas and inputs inspire you, even more on your journey to a purposeful and high life - and I so look forward to your inputs, advice & suggestions.
WarmestHarriet