What drives us as individuals to be creative and what happens when you lose your purpose?
What drives us to be creative? This is a question I have been exploring whilst researching my new book about creativity in business In Your Creative Element. Whilst being creative in our personal lives may be something that comes easily, finding your creative mojo at work can sometimes be harder. I leapt off the corporate merry go round nearly a decade ago as I was unfulfilled and lacking purpose. Motivation expert and uuthor of Drive, Dan Pink says:
“Humans, by their nature, seek purpose – a cause greater and more enduring than themselves”.
The start of a new year always prompts reflection and a reassessment of goals and priorities. At the end of last year my great friend, CEO and uber successful entrepreneur Elise Mitchell interviewed me on how purpose, creativity and leadership are linked, which we are both passionate about, as part of her research for her new book on leadership, Leading Through The Turn. Elise tells the story of becoming a destination leader with a journey mindset and how it completely transformed her approach to leadership and life. As an incredibly successful female businesswoman, CEO and mom, Elise shares dozens of hard-won lessons for achieving success and finding significance, interviews with well-known leaders, and stories from her motorcycling adventures that will inspire you, as she has inspired me.
In this interview Elise and I discuss:
- What happens when you a have a values conflict at work
- How finding your purpose is much more easily said than done
- How a personal ‘crisis’ or turning point can be a powerful force for change
I’ve written a whole chapter on purpose in my own book In Your Creative Element as I am so interested in this area for individuals, and what it means more broadly for business. I also wrote a piece for Irish Tech News recently on the subject which you can read more about here.