week in review + reflection

This week kicked off my participation in my company’s leadership development program, among many other activities. One of the primary topics of the (wonderful) session was purposeful leadership, and, while I had heard this term thrown around and read a bit about it, I hadn’t previously committed the time to really examining what it meant to me.

As the course progressed, I found myself jotting down many notes related to purpose and intention, which led to an intensive introspection and the questioning of how I’m living my life. What is my why? How am I living that why and what actions am I taking to support it? Am I spending time on the things that are important to me? Am I making purposeful and intentional choices, not just in my professional life, but extending to all areas?

This isn’t the first time I’ve asked myself these questions. In fact, as part of my 2016 goals, I completed my personal manifesto. But, a gap exists between that manifesto and what I believe and the undefined why.

I would love to report that after the session I immediately sat down and answered the questions and was satisfied and from that point on I have only made choices that support my why. But, I’m human and one who had a very stressful week, so I pushed those questions aside and instead spent the evening with friends enjoying a few beers. But, the questions lingered, and so this morning I’ve dedicated my creative writing time (second weekend writers is underway!) to examining the why, beginning with a dissection of my manifesto. More to come.