Is your purpose inspired?

It sounds rather grandiose doesn’t it? But seriously, my biggest takeaway from the first three immersive days of the inaugural International Marketing Leaders Programme in the US was being able to walk away and articulate my purpose - one common purpose that straddles both my professional and personal life. Over the next few days, I could not stop sharing with everyone - from my Manager to my Mum - my newly articulated purpose.
That purpose: To inspire ambition and potential in those around me.

Identifying it wasn’t an easy exercise and I felt fortunate to have been surrounded by a fabulous group of 17 like-minded marketing leaders who all helped me first explore my qualities, strengths and weaknesses as a leader, before moving on to think about my purpose. And it soon dawned on me, the importance of paying forward the tremendous influence that my mentors had on me, by helping others realize their potential.

My mentors - sometimes my managers, frequently senior business leaders and often coaches outside my professional life - have helped me navigate the various challenges with empathy, confidence and gusto. And they’ve steered me through some of my early career accomplishments, including managing my first team, negotiating the first $1MM media deal, and executing my first Google Hangout series.

My appreciation of sharing knowledge and experiences has increased since taking on mentees of my own, as well as continuing to cultivate the relationships with my mentors and giving them valuable feedback. Thanks to the IMLP, I now have 17 more potential mentors and I relish the opportunity to continue to learn, grow and develop my global network of Marketing professionals.

We all exist on this earth for a short, undetermined period of time. It’s well worth the time to question what gives our lives and our careers direction, meaning and happiness. The International Marketing Leaders Programme was the ideal opportunity to do just that. By the way, did I tell you my purpose?

#bringyourpurposeback
#onepurpose
#purposefulliving

If you’d like to hear more about the importance of purpose in leadership, watch this video interview with Ian Cranna, Vice President, Marketing & Category EMEA at Starbucks.

Kristien is an International MKT Executive who has lived in multiple countries including: USA, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and UK.

He is currently responsible for the development and implementation of brand strategies, sponsorship activation, global media campaigns, digital innovation, sales enablement tools and content marketing.

He thrives on building and managing diverse teams, is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is known within his team as the digital freak!

Follow him on Twitter:
@kristien_turner
Or on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kristienturner/

This article first appeared on Brand Learning's website here.

To find out more about the International Marketing Leaders Programme brought to you by The Marketing Society and Brand Learning, please visit our Gym.