“Purpose is not a cause, a passion, an aspiration, or the sum of your values. Purpose is that unique gift that you bring to the world.”
– NICK CRAIG
Leadership expert, Fortune 500 consultant, and founder of the Core Leadership Institute, Nick Craig brings to the page his enormously successful message and methods of leading from purpose and provides a new framework for how we can lead ourselves and our teams to achieve our most ambitious goals.
Leading From Purpose
Drawing on ten years of experience working with global executives, Nick Craig takes you on an engaging journey to understand what purpose really does for leaders.
“Great causes such as ending poverty and injustice are wonderful ways to express purpose, but real leaders need to align themselves with something that works just as well for managing unruly customers, competitors that won’t sit still, and global events that turn strategy into dust. Sound more like your world? … Most of what is ‘sold’ as purpose does us all a great disservice by making us feel that we are less than those who ‘have it’ and that we must either be bathed in light or give up trying. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Nick not only explains what it is and isn’t. He also offers you a method to find your own. There are three gateways to purpose and you will engage with each of them.
Throughout the book, leaders from around the world and all walks of life share their unique stories of the true impact of leading from purpose. Many of them shed light on what you might expect purpose’s gifts to be, such as clarity, focus, and the confidence to act especially in the unknown; some show how purpose can be the source of what energizes us most. At other times, you will meet the counterintuitive nature of purpose, how it redefines your relationship to stress, allowing you to thrive where others just survive, or compels you to postpone momentary happiness in favor of sustained meaning and impact.
The final chapters of the book demonstrate that as we begin to lead more consciously from our purpose, we immediately begin to see the places we don’t live it personally, professionally and socially and this becomes our opportunity to close the gap. This may even compel you to put aside one of your greatest strengths to truly lead from purpose or push you out of your comfort zone. Purpose gives us the courage to step out of the safety net and lead us in pursuit of greater meaning and impact.
“If you don’t know your purpose, you can’t fully live it. If you aren’t living it, you can’t lead from it. Leading From Purpose will help you do both.”
How well are you leading from your purpose?
What They’re Saying
Brené Brown
NYT bestselling author of The Gifts of Imperfection
“Nick’s purpose work isn’t magic. It’s the gift of clarity, focus, and confidence. I opened my heart and mind to my purpose work and, in turn, it’s rearranged my life. My purpose is now the filter that I use to evaluate what work I do, and, more importantly, what I don’t do. Do I live my purpose perfectly? No. Do I ever choose fear or scarcity over my purpose? Sometimes. But when I do, things fall apart. Including me at times. I’ve spent my entire life wanting to be in service of something bigger. The most significant transformation for me has been learning (and relearning) that my most valuable contributions happen when I’m in my purpose.”
Bill George
Author of Discover Your True North, Senior Fellow at Harvard Business School, and former Chair & CEO, Medtronic
“Nick Craig’s breakthrough book, “Leading From Purpose,” will transform your life, as you discover your authentic purpose. With his depth of understanding, brilliant insights, and powerful examples, Nick brilliantly enables you to find the deeper meaning of your life so you can make a lasting impact on the world around you.”
Jostein Solheim
CEO, Ben & Jerry's
“Nothing is more at the core of what you need to lead in today’s disruptive world than Nick’s work on purpose. Working with Nick dramatically changed my professional path and I can’t imagine leading Ben & Jerry’s without it.”
Stacey Tank
Vice President, Corporate Communications & External Affairs, Home Depot
“How do you unleash the fullest potential of individuals and teams without knowing their super powers? The simple answer is – you can’t. Nick masters the balance of art and science in his new book, effortlessly coaxing all of us to answer the biggest question of them all – why? Only when we answer this question can we hold ourselves accountable for standing in our purpose, revealing the truest and most impactful version of ourselves and our teams.”
Ralph Hamers
CEO, ING Bank
“I have always spent time thinking about what I as a human being wanted to achieve in my life and career. Articulating my own purpose has not been a process of invention, but a process of discovery, and working with Nick helped put the various pieces together. Having discovered my own purpose has really enhanced my impact as a leader.”
Paul Polman
CEO, Unilever
“An important contribution to the debate and a powerful reminder that purpose isn’t just an abstract concept, but ties directly to deeper relationships, more effective leadership – and ultimately to stronger, more cohesive and more successful organisations.”
Dana H. Born, PhD
Co-Director, Center for Public Leadership (CPL); Chair, Senior Executive Fellows (SEF) Program, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
“If you have been asking yourself the timeless question: ‘Am I truly living the meaningful life I was meant to lead?,’ Nick’s wisdom and understanding renders the answer crystal clear. For those in search of fulfillment, he guides you on a journey of self-discovery to realize your life’s purpose so you may better lead.”
Loren Shuster
Chief People Officer, LEGO®
“After 25 years of corporate life, I knew there was a underlying driver but could not put my finger on it. That was until, I explored with Nick his work around Purpose. Since then, my purpose has acted as a guiding light, to help me centre and ground myself to lead effectively when it’s needed most.”
Michael Schneider
CEO, Bunnings Group Australia
“The journey to find your voice and your purpose is one that unlocks a richer experience for you, and those around you. Nick Craig has developed a model that unlocks that journey, creating a pathway for clarity of purpose and mission. The implementation of this model across several hundred of senior leaders has seen deeper alignment with our core values, a greater focus on our core mission and continued improvement in the culture and performance of the organisation.”
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