By: Sneha Miglani, MBA ’20
We are so engrossed in our daily lives that we often forget to pause, look and reflect on where we are now and where we’re heading. I have goals, like everyone else, and I am constantly in pursuit of these little wins, at times forgetting why I even wake up every day or what is driving me to create and achieve these goals – what’s my purpose?
But what does that have to do with leadership? Turns out, everything! Mark Twain once said that the two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. At the Ross Leaders Academy, I learned how authentic leadership is driven by your purpose. Successful leaders realize this and work each day relentlessly to live their values and fulfill their purpose.
Our cohort went through various exercises to drill out our purpose from within us and then share it with our team. We participated in two guided visualization exercises, one which took us to our happy place and the other which brought us in terms with our fears. I remember walking into the session with a confused, overworked cloudy-head, and walking out feeling calm but driven after the exercise; even more determined about my life choices and what’s to come.
In our capstone session before wrapping up the year, all of us wrote our values and purpose on a poster and put it up on a wall for everyone to see. It was overwhelming to see a wide range of emotions and motivations. Some were self-enhancing, some self-transcending; many were buttoned up really well like mission statements, others still needed some more digging. But there was a common thread that tied all of our purposes – a strong sense of commitment without any fear or hesitation.
As our cohort completes its first semester with Ross Leaders, here are my five takeaways stemming from my experience and that of others around me –
- Have a purpose – Helps you to focus better on your journey and trim out unimportant things.
- Purpose is personal – Could be as selfish as always wanting to have fun, or as broad-scope as enabling positive change. It stems from your core values and evolves as you grow.
- Authentic leaders are self-aware – Key to building genuine and honest relationships, where there is mutual trust.
- Be vulnerable – Don’t be afraid to come as you are, you learn so much more when there is no pretense.
- Live your values every day – If you stay close to your values and keep working towards your purpose, there will always be positivity and motivation, no matter how difficult your surroundings are.
Sneha Miglani, MBA Class of 2020
