We are at a pivotal moment in terms of human history, where we are being called to evolve the operating system on the planet. This for many is triggering a career pivotal moment of their own. When you are asking deeper questions about your life, your work and what you want to do with it all.

If that resonates... know that it is ultimately a call for you to take your place in this new world that is emerging. To be part of this massive transition we are going through. That it asks you to get clear on how you will contribute. Rather than being a well meaning by-stander.

Business as usual is dying. There is no point hanging on to a sinking raft. It is time to change ship. To create businesses that work for people and planet - and catalyse a new level of prosperity for all.

That will take each of us evolving the way we work. Stepping into self leadership and taking the initiative. The shift needs not just the few, but the many. We are all a piece of this particular jigsaw.

Up until now...

I have been hearing recently from many changemakers that they are skirting burn out.  Now there is definitely a Covid factor here. But that is only part of the story.

10 years of working with changemakers - be it in the corporate or the positive impact world - have taught me they all have one thing in common. Their dance with burn out.  This applied across the board - even when they believed in the change they were bringing in. Sometimes their passion actually made things worse.

The usual antidote is learning resilience tools to manage stress. And yes that helps. Let’s be honest changemaking is not a walk in the park and is stressful. But that will only get you so far.

Beyond tactics, breaking this burn out pattern takes a mindset shift. The crux of it is that there are three blind spots. They in turn set up three burn out traps changemakers easily fall into.

1. The Sacrifice Trap: From Duty To Inspiration

In this trap we are driven more by the...

Often we frame purpose as doing good in the world. But what if there was more to it - what if purpose was not just about doing good?

When I started working with humanitarian sector leaders on creating fulfilling work, I found something unexpected.

Up until then, I had mainly worked with corporate leaders. I found that they often lacked meaning and purpose in what they did. But when it came to for impact leaders, I believed they would be experts in meaning. They were doing good. Their work was having a clear positive impact. So I thought they would feel on purpose and be completely fulfilled in what they did. 

But that wasn’t the case. In fact they complained about the same things as my corporate leaders did - which surprised me. Specifically they felt successful on the outside but that something was missing on the inside. 

At first I didn’t understand why. After all their work was externally meaningful. So why...

Often we think that to reach the height of a meaningful career you need to become really good at something that you are recognised for and that has a positive impact. So did I for a long time. In 2014, I got another perspective.  That there was something beyond that.

I had arrived in Switzerland in 2010 and started a new business from scratch. I had no network. I was told I was crazy and that the market was saturated in terms of coaches and consultants.

Within 18 months I was working with big multinationals and humanitarian organisations doing what I loved - focusing on energy management, meaningful work, emotional intelligence and leading change. And my business was doing well.

2014 was a turning point though in an unexpected way. By that time I was working with high potential leaders and actively supporting internal change agents in large organisations to bring meaningful change. I was leading transformation journeys and 5 day retreats so we could go deep.

At the end of that...

One of the things we don't talk a lot about is what it really takes to build a meaningful career over time.  

When I first decided I wanted to do work that had meaning, I was totally focused on finding that perfect meaningful role or setting up the perfect meaningful business.  I couldn’t see much beyond that.  It was black or white, there were no shades of grey. 

It was like this box that I was going to find and tick.  And then that would be it. Everything would be alright.  I would arrive in some kind of paradise and automatically be ecstatically happy all of the time.   

I went on to realise there was a lot more to it than that ...  

Initially, I put too much pressure on myself to find the perfect thing straight away.  The one thing that would fulfil me completely immediately and totally.  Instead of letting it be an ongoing work in progress.  I was probably too ambitious initially in the jobs I applied to when...