Dream Leader: Dream Discovery

Dream leader! Is that you? Do you see the power? The benefit? As leaders, we should always be looking for ways to improve our leadership and ability to care for our people and mission. In healthcare the impact is greater as caring for those who cannot care for themselves or those in desperate need of hope increases the weight of our responsibility. This series is about a tool, a skill set, you need as a leader to do just that. One way to do this is to be a leader who has a dream about how to improve themself.

So how do you begin the journey to discover your dream? What can you do to set yourself up to become a dream leader?

Ultimately, what we are talking about here is discovering your purpose for your life and building off of that discovery. Yes, your purpose. Sean Barger, in his book Resilience: How Not to be Defeated, has a wonderful and simple discussion about your purpose. Your purpose is what you were uniquely created for, what makes you…you! Your purpose is what you internally gage, whether you admit or not, how happy you are deep down. Certain things will make you happy. But working towards or working for your purpose is why you are still happy about your life even when things go wrong. Isn’t that your mission too?

The difference between your purpose and your mission is your purpose impacts everything about your life. It runs through every job and role you play. Those roles you play are your missions. Your mission as a husband or wife; your mission as a leader in your organization; your mission as Zumba instructor; your mission as a mentor; your mission as a friend.

Your purpose is permanent, your missions are not. 

Some of your missions may be long standing, but your missions is the part you play. Your purpose is what makes you tick. Part of the challenge we have in life, in general, is when our purpose and our mission are not aligned. I have talked with many leaders and workers are not happy in their jobs. When you start asking about what brings them passion, drive, determination, it becomes clear the mission they are working is in contradiction to their purpose. 

One scenario in which this played out was with a physician colleague who was a mid-level leader in her organization. She was increasingly unhappy with her job and organization, frustrated, and became difficult to work with on any endeavor. As we chatted it become very clear she was being pushed into roles (mission) in the organization which she did not want nor felt she had the capacity to do successfully. Also, it was not where she found pleasure in her role as a physician. This mismatch between purpose and mission was creating a disastrous work environment, demotivated my colleague, and was not benefitting the organization.

I walked my colleague through a few simple, short steps to help her define her purpose. Once we focused in on her purpose, then we gave permission for her to dream about the future and where she wanted to go with her career. She followed through with the plan, and found a future in her organization which allowed her to lead in areas she was gifted at and to grow the organization. 

When you align your mission with your purpose, you find resiliency and strength!

Defining your purpose and dreaming about your future takes time. Personal, a focused time. In our fast paced world, it becomes less of a priority for you to spend time on yourself. We have people, bosses, workers, spouses, children, deadline all vying for our attention. If you are going to become a leader who looks toward the future for yourself, then you have to become more comfortable taking time for you. 

Let me remind you, this series is about developing you! You then take care of your missions. My desire is for you to become a better you, a more focused and purposeful you. So with that in mind, let’s go over 5 simple steps to start setting for your dreams that help you accomplish your purpose.

1. Peace: In the beginning, when you are defining your dreams and your purpose, you need to deliberately take time to just be at peace, and to think. And this is something as you go through these 5 steps you need to come back too several times. This is where you search who you are, what gives you passion and evaluate if what you determine is actually true for you. What are you uniquely made for in this life? And for you, not something you wish was true for you. When you take yourself away from all distractions and meditate on what you want your future to look like, then you add clarity to your work. This step is crucial for a peaceful and confirming journey. You need to settle on first your purpose, then you are free to dream about the “what’s next.” It may take more than one respite of time to accomplish this task. This cannot be rushed. 
2. Passion: What is your passion, what gets you excited? What brings joy and happiness to what you do? This passion is what drives you. Many of us have no idea what does. Ask your boss, where is their passion and inspiration for what they do. You might be surprised how many have no idea. Don’t be like them. Know yourself and know what motivates and inspires you to do what you do. This is your passion. When are you looking for where to move yourself in the future, you need to know this passion, for it gives you the life you need to keep going. 
3. Alignment: As you begin to dream, you need to keep your purpose in front of you to keep you focused. You also need to ensure your dreams are in line with your purpose. This is where some people need to go back to step one. If you are dreaming about doing something, yet it does not support your purpose, then I would say you have not focused your purpose enough. For many of us, we have been told things about us we have come to believe that are true. These things could be positive or negative. Either way, if you are setting forth dreams for where and what you would like to do and it does align with your purpose, something has to change. Either refocus your purpose farther or relook at the dream.
4. Refinement: This takes Step 3 to the next level. Refine the dream, look again at how it aligns with your purpose. Then look at and ponder what you could do if you made this dream a reality. Is the dream big enough? Is the dream dependent on others? What I have discovered in this phase too is, was you go through this journey, once you get close to your dream, it grows bigger. Awesome. You should though ensure you know where it is you are going and why you are going there in this dream journey.
5. Own it: Now it’s yours to dream and act upon. Once you have set your purpose, then you dream what you want to do, do it. Simple right? Hardly. This is where the work begins. You need to share these dreams, write them down, revisit them, and make them yours. We will get into this step in following blog posts. But for now, focus on what you have written, refine it, and own it.

It’s time to put some “time” into discovering your purpose so you can dream your dream for your life. Many people, especially leaders, don’t take the time to look and develop themselves as people first. This approach to making you a better you is the first step in becoming a better leader in 2019. Next blog we will walk through Step 5 from this week, how do you start owning your dream

“Purpose is the straightest path to power and the ultimate source of personal strength – strength of conviction and strength to persevere.” Gary Kellyer

Leading with you!

Dean

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