Following our Purpose gives us certainty
Lessons from Better World Leader — Paul Dunn
This is the first in a series of articles, summarising the keynotes from my conversations with leaders who I propose all share a common intention — they are all striving to create our better world.
“As a leader you need a higher purpose than yourself to keep showing up, thriving and performing at the highest level”
This is one of my favourite extracts from the very first episode of the Better World Leaders podcast, where I was honoured to host Paul Dunn, Chairman of B1G1.
The list of Paul’s accolades goes on and on, and did the wisdom, humility and insightfulness throughout his conversation with me on how leaders can create a better world for us all.
Paul Dunn is a 4 times TEDx speaker.
He’s was one of the first 10 people in Hewlett Packard in Australia. He founded The Results Corporation, working with and developing over 23,000 businesses.
He’s been honoured as a Social Innovation Fellow in his new home of Singapore.
He’s been featured in Forbes Magazine with Sir Richard Branson as a ‘disrupter’ in business.
Below I share a compilation of the insights I’ve gleaned from our conversation.
“Provide certainty where there is uncertainty. Listen to your team and harness the wisdom of the collective as you do.”
In the very first conversation in this on-going exploration I was joined by an incredibly insightful, purposeful and humble leader who not only inspires with his own experience and story, but in the way he has chosen to spend his ‘retirement’ years enabling other leaders, business owners and enterprises to align their success to providing for others.
“Following our purpose gives us certainty”
How are you providing certainty to your team?
To your family?
To yourself?
In many corners at the moment, there’s a scarcity of certainty.
And in the words of one far wiser than me, Paul Dunn, the key to finding and providing certainty in all parts of your life is to find, focus on and keep returning to purpose.
Share with your team daily how they are contributing to their purpose. Remind yourself of yours, and stay true to it with frequent reflections. And share with your family as much as you can how purpose can help them find their way regardless of age.
“As a leader your first customer is your team”
Words of wisdom and inspiration which I for one wish I’d received far earlier in my leadership career. How often we genuinely engage with our team as our customers? Appreciating that our first priority is to serve them, to ensure they get what they need, and are able to achieve their goals because of us, not for us as leaders.
“Leaders are at their best when they are giving”
We are at our best when we are giving. Especially as leaders.
This key message of Paul Dunn’s was one that resounded with me especially.
Often in my career I’ve been criticised for giving too much;
Giving too much time to clients and candidates as a recruiter.
Giving too much to my team as a manager.
Giving too much support and advice when I coach and mentor.
Giving too much of myself as a leader.
I had a sense that I knew why I was doing this, and why the criticism never landed, but I wasn’t certain until now. I had put it down to wanting to do my best, provide the best service, do all I could to help. And those are all true.
But more deeply, even before I’d really honed in on what it is, I was following my purpose. My purpose is to help leaders make the world better. And in giving all that I can, I am at my best in following that purpose. I strive every day to give as much as I can, and help all those I am able.
Thank you Paul for shining a light on this for me, and I hope for you too.
“Imagine a world when every time business is done, something great happens”
When this aspirational message first reached me, I had to find out more.
That sounds like the kind of world I’d like to live in.
And the kind of world I’d like to help create.
Paul Dunn is inspirational in many ways, but his and Masami Sato’s work at B1G1 is the pinnacle in my opinion.
Please take the time to explore B1G1 and find out how you can contribute to this imagined better world, by ensuring every time your business has a win, hits a goal, ships a product or simply decides to make the world better, you can have huge impact in many many ways.
How does Paul recommend leaders can become Better World Leaders?
1) Connect with themselves and have a real sense of making a difference in our world
2) To connect with their ‘human-ness’ and their impact on humanity in the broadest, yet very specific sense.
3) Recognise that your job is not to create followers, but that you’re judged by the number of leaders you create.
If you’ve enjoyed this overview, you can listen to this conversation in full on the episode page here, or by searching Better World Leaders wherever you enjoy podcasts.
