The 4 P's and Your Career

This is the origin story of Identity Before Impact, so it's only fitting that it would be the first resource!

While coaching young professionals who were early in their career, I would often ask a question: "What do you want to do next?"

My goal was to understand their ambitions, future plans, and goals, as well as to find ways to help them move toward those next steps. It was not surprising to me, however, that the reply I received most often was "I don't know!" It can be difficult to make plans for what's next if we haven't done the deeper work of understanding the secret behind every great plan: passion, purpose, and personhood.

...

Especially in our careers, there may be times where an unexpected opportunity arises. It may offer more pay, a more exciting title, a manager/supervisor role... but there is no better way to ruin your career than chasing after a new role if it doesn't align with who you are and who you're meant to be.

So, before you plan for the role with the fancy title, the higher pay, and the supervisory responsibilities, ask yourself this simple question: "Am I passionate about this kind of work? Does it align with my purpose and the way I'm wired?" This is not a time for rose-colored glasses and an overly optimistic perspective. If you convince yourself that you'll love the job (when all you'll really love is the increased pay/prestige), there is a high likelihood that you will, in fact, not love the job and the higher pay won't be a factor because you'll either quit after a few months or be asked to leave because the work is not being done with excellence.

There are countless stories, shared by people from every imaginable profession, who have talked about the experience of moving from the role of a high-performing individual contributor into a management role, only to realize they actually loved doing the work and aren't passionate about mentoring and leading others to do the work instead. Instead of allowing yourself to become impressed by a job title, look for the roles where you feel your best self come to life in the daily work.

...

While working with these bright-eyed new recruits in our organization, I would begin to share my Philosophy of the 4 P's and challenge them to work from their Purpose and Passion.

Pay attention to the work that brings you the most joy and personal fulfillment and know why that work is meaningful to you. Once you've got an idea of your Purpose and Passion, look for opportunities to do work that is aligned with those things. And if an opportunity happens to come along that allows you to do even more of that work, whether it was part of your plans or not, take the leap!

Want to learn more about 4 P's? I would encourage you to dive in to Identity Before Impact: The 4 P's of a Life with Purpose and do the deep work of personal discovery for yourself! Get your copy here!