January might be the start of the calendar or fiscal year, but in a leader’s personal life it is often mid-course reflection time. Life, as you practice it, probably began in September with school starting and vacations wrapping up. You made the fall push for the bottom line or the fundraising goal, and now you need a reality check. The New Year has begun – where are you going and how are you growing?

Leaders need some direction for the next leg of the race, but before leaping into the future it might be good to look at the past. In the first blog of this series (The Core) we looked at your dreams, those inner drives that motivate you and give you passion for your life and work. It is time to leverage that passion and direct it – but where? The answer: in the direction of your calling.

Your calling is what you were wired for. It is NOT a position: it is a function. You are not called to be Vice President of Sales – you are called to motivate and lead teams toward mutual goals and success. Next year you might be CEO of an electronics firm, but your calling will be similar. Your role changes, but your calling will be less likely to fluctuate. Your call defines the nature of your work, not the strategy or environment in which you perform it. And, I believe it should be described in terms of people, not simply products or outcomes.

What is your calling? This takes some time to work through, and I enjoy guiding strategic leaders through the process of clarifying their calling as they make transitions in life and work. But here are a few thoughts to get you going.

1) Discover your motivated abilities. Some years ago I took an assessment that required me to write 8 stories about projects or leadership opportunities in which I was successful and also enjoyed in each era of life. My 1-page descriptions ranged from restoring an old, oak desk to redesigning a training manual for a training department when I was a banker.

Despite the range of projects, there was a core theme: I love to unleash potential and make things/people more effective. It makes sense that I have been in leadership development roles and strategic planning initiatives. I can see the core capabilities in a team or leader, unleash their potential, and get things moving in the right direction.

2) Compare your motivated abilities with your current work. Where are you headed? Is your work going to reflect who you really are and what you are called to be, or will it remain in conflict with your calling? Are you called to bring strategic insight to core problems, yet have demanding people management obligations that drain you? Are you wired for change and entrepreneurial risk-taking but remain trapped in a quality control environment with little freedom for experimentation?

Granted, it is a tough economy and you can’t simply job hop. But you can begin bringing more of who you are to what you do, or start looking for opportunities that align core motivations with work expectations.

Thanks to this process I realized I am a developer of leaders and processes – but I am not limited to working with raw material. I have the ability to bring resources, people and ideas together in fresh ways that shape organizational direction and empower life-changing leaders to lead well.

What about you? Are you working in your sweet spot? Maybe it is time to get clear and get moving.

Your leadership is too important to get this one wrong.

Dr. Bill Donahue

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