Kristen Hadeed: Your Purpose, Your Why

Understanding your own why, or purpose, is a tangible advantage

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• Comes from stories from our past.
• Special moments in our life often tied together by a golden thread.
• For her it was the culture of her family.
• I create an environment that empowers people to try to they transcend limits.

• Do we have to quit our jobs or change careers discover or live our why?
  • 87% of the world is disengaged at work. The why, or purpose behind your efforts, helps you understand how you can and should contribute everyday at work, home, school, etc.
  • Becomes more  like a compass.
  • Everyone at their company goes through ‘Why Discovery’
  • For sales especially, the why is so important. The why is actually what drives decision making.
• Have you seen your employees go on to other companies and extend their why into another place?
  • Helps people see what they’re actually good at.
  • How can they find something that is actually a great fit.
  • See people changing majors, doing many different things with their life.

• Watch the TED talk. Read the book. Workbook coming out soon too.
• Don’t start by looking directly for your purpose. That’s hard.
• Start recording the things that are fulfilling to you. What happened that day? Write it down.

• Seems that identifying my ‘Why’, if it’s so important, so passion driven, should be easy. Personally, I don’t find it easy. I’ve personally thought about this a lot and I’m not confident that I have clearly identified and articulated my Why. Help us get through these struggles, which I hope are fairly common.
  • Golden Circle is the Cross section of the brain. Limbic Brain drives decision making. Why lives in that part of our brain that doesn’t communicate with language.
  • That explains why articulating a purpose in words can be a challenge.
• How will I know when I’ve found it?
  • Actual why discovery: you’d not leave with your why in perfect condition. Needs to simmer.
  • She doesn’t even love the words of her why. Feels 90% there. No reason to stop working on it.

• Will it change overtime?
  • Dependent on the person.
  • The purpose is about finding fulfillment.
  • In general, why isn’t changing it is often more about letting go of extraneous

• There’s an unsaid fearful assumption floating around here: “If I find my Why and it’s very different than my current life, I’ll have to make significant changes. Those changes may hurt people I care about. They may put me very insecure positions. etc.” Most of us won’t articulate this fear but it’s in there if we dig enough. How do you see clients overcoming this?
  • So many people are completely un-engaged at work.
  • Definition of success has changed. Loyalty isn’t the game anymore.
• How much of this, meaning the process of understanding and living my ‘Why’, is inner game (going on withing my own mind) vs. outer game (behaviors and actions other people can see)?
  • Not knowing the why will create a disconnect.
  • When we know the why, it gives you something to talk about.
  • It’s more transparent about who we really are.
• Do you have tactical advice for making real life changes to our situation (jobs, relationships, etc) based on the Why we’ve discovered?
  • Let’s try to piece together, understand what makes me happy and fulfilled and do those things more.
  • This is not about abandoning something you’ve built for years. This is about doing more of what makes you tick, makes you happy, it makes you more productive.

• One piece of tactical advice you’d give our ambitious corporate audience that they can put in place today  to help them change their life / career?
  • Call one or two people who have worked with you closely to ask what your biggest contribution is? What made me different.
• Best business book you’ve ever read?
  • Delivering Happiness, Tony Shea