Yesterday, we had our Annual Retreat at St. Anne’s Church in Lawrenceville, NJ for the Board of Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team at Catholic Charities. We spent most of our day focused on how we can better recruit, train, and develop our most precious resource of all — the human capital that is embodied in our great staff and the special community of health care providers and clients that we are privileged to work with as people rebuild their lives and restore hope. As a professional coach, I employ a thorough assessment-based process that helps my clients identify their key strengths and accomplishments across their career and personal life and to effectively align their unique story to the future opportunities they seek.
I think most people intrinsically know how to answer that basic question we are often asked when we meet someone for the first time “So Jack, what do you do?” or “So Jack, tell me about yourself! I spend a fair amount of time helping clients hone their answer to that important question which is often referred to as the 30 Second Elevator Speech, The Pitch, or Your Back Story. But how often do we really ask ourselves not only what we do, but perhaps more importantly, the why of what we do? Why am I working in this industry, for this company, in this location? How does the what of what I do relate to my own carefully developed life purpose?
We showed a fascinating short video at our Retreat (See Below) from a terrific comedian named Michael Jr. who in one of his earlier podcasts called BreakTime, poses that very same question. He calls it Know Your Why. It provoked an interesting discussion of not only the actions steps we could take to better train and develop our people, but to what we could also do to engender a stronger sense of purpose and passion for what they do at Catholic Charities and in their personal life. If you know your why, then your what becomes more impactful because you are truly walking with purpose. Having purpose in our life and in our career is a blessed place to aspire to so enjoy Michael Jr.’s video and have some fun asking yourself that very same question — Do You Know Your Why? Oh, and my bet is that you’re going to just love the energy and passion from the gifted Musical Director in the video and his unique rendition of Amazing Grace. Warm regards, Dr. K
