In a recent coaching session with a client, we were talking about one of her team members that seemed to be lacking initiative.
She was struggling with getting them motivated. They were performing their assigned work tasks well. They were well-liked on the team. It was their career development goals that were not moving.
There were things that she had suggested in their previous performance review, not as requirement, but as an option, on how they could increase visibility and improve communication across the team and with leadership team. All areas of concern.
When the next performance review rolled around, she noticed that her team member had not acted on any of her suggestions for career development.
This was confusing to her.
She knew that if her boss had “suggested as an option” of something she could do to help her career she would have done the optional suggestions along with required ones.
Why wasn’t her team member responding like she would? Why did they lack the motivation to help themselves?
I said I did not believe her team member was unmotivated; I believed that she might be up against something I call “borrowed” purpose.
What is a Borrowed Purpose?
We both agreed that people are different. Some would look at the optional suggestions on the performance review and just do them. While others would delay working on certain suggested goals or not do them at all.
But here’s the thing. It is not because one person is naturally more motivated than another. The more likely reason is that one person has an aligned purpose with the suggestion while the other person is borrowing their boss/parent/partner’s purpose.
When you borrow someone else’s purpose, you are not fully bought into what is being asked of you.
You might start working on the suggested action but then lose steam.
Or you just don’t start at all … even at the same time knowing it would be a good thing to do what was being asked of you.
Questions to help you move from Borrowed Purpose to Aligned Purpose
As we explored further why my client would have immediately acted on her boss’s suggestions while her team member had not, it became clear that my client had found her own reason for doing what her boss suggests.
Not because her boss said so but because she believed the suggestion was aligned with her bigger career goals to advance.
Which got me thinking about all the things we tell ourselves we should do for our careers.
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Update our LinkedIn profile
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Network more
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Speak up in meetings
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Get a certification
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Become a manager
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Build our personal brand
We hear these suggestions from bosses, mentors, career coaches, parents and LinkedIn and then we borrow this purpose and find ourselves burnt out chasing what other people suggested. We never asked ourselves if this is something that we really want for ourselves and our careers.
We had not found a reason to align behind the actions.
4 Questions to Help Move You from Burrowed Purpose to Aligned Purpose
Before saying a quick no and missing a good opportunity or giving a quick yes and then not taking action, spend a few minutes with these 4 questions in order to find your own reason for doing what has been suggested:
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Why do I think I should do this?
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What am I hoping this will give me?
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If nobody expected me to do this, would I still want the outcome?
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What would make this worth doing for me?
These questions help to locate alignment.
We all have things we need to do in our jobs that don’t light us up. Not everything we do will feel like it is part of our bigger purpose.
But … when it is suggested that you do something that is going to require your energy, attention and sustained effort figuring out how to move from burrowing their purpose to aligning the purpose with what matters to you and your career makes everything easier and more fun!
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