Let’s demystify that your purpose must compare to “purpose icons” who are famous for living their purpose—people like activist Mahatma Gandhi, athlete Serena Williams, or musician Taylor Swift. True purpose isn’t just for the famous or extraordinary; it’s woven into our daily choices and interactions.
How we live our days is how we live our lives. It’s about being purposeful today while you’re on a call, driving with your family, or choosing to connect with a friend instead of scrolling through a newsfeed.
This exercise helps reveal how your purpose already exists in your everyday actions; you just need to recognize it and intentionally cultivate it. Here’s a great activity you can bring to your team around purpose.
The Ripple Effect Team Exercise
(requires fifteen to twenty minutes)
Step 1: Energy-Impact-Word (five to seven minutes)
Ask each person to answer these prompts in writing.
- What energizes me most at work?
- What kind of impact do I want to have on the people around me?
- At this moment in time, if I had to distill my sense of purpose into one word that captures what I bring or want to stand for, what would it be (e.g., empowerment, connection, clarity, growth, peace, courage)?
Your word doesn’t need to be perfect—just something that resonates with your inner compass.
Step 2: The Ripple Prompt (five to seven minutes)
Now, imagine a typical week. How does your word show up in your work? How do others experience it through you? Jot down some responses to these questions:
- What small choices or actions express this word?
- Where/when do I tend to get disconnected from it?
- What’s one way I could align more fully with it this week?
Step 3: Optional Share-Out (five to seven minutes)
Invite each person to share one word and one sentence about how they want to live the word and sentence more intentionally.
Bonus: Team Purpose Mosaic
You can also collect each person’s word in a shared document or whiteboard to create a Team Purpose Mosaic. As a leader, this is a very powerful connection with your direct reports and allows you to know how you can support and empower your direct reports even better. Doing this exercise helps people know that they matter, especially if you support them in living what matters most to them.
You can bring this Mosaic to a meeting every month and make time to reflect on it. By reflecting on what matters most to each of you, you can remember that you’re working and living more in alignment with your purpose than you probably realize. This is a boost in energy and mental and psychological resilience!
