# Workplace Surgery: What Does Purpose-Driven Leadership Really Look Like? - **Episode:** [208](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/208.md) (2025-06-24) - **Type:** workplace-surgery - **Tags:** purpose-driven-leadership, leadership, values, management - **Time:** 47:30–52:37 (start 2850s) - **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/208?t=2850](https://truthliesandwork.com/208?t=2850) --- [47:30] Al Elliott: Love it. In your own skin. I love it. Okay. Question number 3, Leanne. What does purpose-driven leadership really look like in practice? This is a great question. I want to know the answer to this question. I should know the answer to this question. I've been thinking a lot about what it means to lead with purpose. I was recently part of a discussion on authentic leadership, and it really— see, you need to be authentic— authentic leadership, and it really got me questioning what that actually looks like on a day-to-day, especially in senior roles. How do you stay aligned with your values when you've got deadlines, politics, and commercial pressure pulling you in all directions? I'd love to hear your take. What does leading with real intention look like, Leanne? [48:06] Leanne Elliott: You You, you've answered your own question. It's a— it starts with values. It starts with understanding exactly who you are. And that sounds really cheesy, but it really is a case of understanding what kind of professional am I? What kind of person am I? What kind of human do I want to be? How do I want to be better? And having that really deep period of reflection, using coaching models to help you with that, whether it be the VITALS model, whether it be Things like there's a you know what is quite a good exercise to do if if that all seems a bit abstract or you're not exactly sure what your values are is a career timeline exercise. So basically, write draw a horizontal line on the left hand of the line. Start with your very first job, even if you were 14, and then map out every job that you've ever had through to current day. Then as you go through, reflect on what you really liked about that job, what you didn't like about that job. If there was somebody there that inspired you, if there's someone there that really irritated. Motivated you, to help you get an idea of the work that was meaningful for you, the work that you enjoyed, that gave you energy, that, um, you found fulfilling. And, and why— understanding why is going to give you those clues as to what your values are, who you want to be, whether you want to be an empathetic leader, whether you want to be wildly creative, whether you want to build something really exciting. That's going to give you an idea. Once you have this in mind and written down, It's a case of looking at your organisation is going to be critical because if your values are out of sync with the organisation that you're currently working in or considering working in, that's not going to work out. That leads to what we call moral burnout, and it's really hard. It's really tough, and you just can't last long in an organisation that's fundamentally out of sync with your values. You might get 18 months out of it, maybe 2 years, depending on how involved you are. Anything longer than that is, is where you're going to find yourself. What did you say? In these places where you're being pulled in all directions. If your organization is aligned with your values, that probably won't happen very frequently, um, at all. My kind of general advice. And I think finally, it's kind of thinking about where are your weaknesses? Where are you? Where do you stumble when you're stressed? So for example, when I'm stressed and under pressure, I get very direct [50:34] Al Elliott: Yeah [50:34] Leanne Elliott: Because I just need somebody to understand what needs to be done. And that somebody's usually Al. I'm sorry, darling. But I get very direct because I just, I just need to communicate this as clearly as possible to make sure it happens. Having that self-awareness is, if I'm working with somebody who isn't my husband, which is another conversation, is it? When you work with your partner, actually, the behaviours that you would never do with another professional [50:55] Al Elliott: Yeah [50:55] Leanne Elliott: Um, but if I'm in another environment, I can feel that, that stress starting to build up. I know that's going to happen. I don't want to be an asshole. I don't want to make people feel uncomfortable or stressed or like they've done something wrong. So, I know to calm myself down and have that conversation calmly in terms of, right, can I just ask some questions to clarify what's going on? And then I think once we've done that, we'll be able to agree a way to move forward. And it's having that self-awareness to adjust your behavior in those moments, because I don't want to be an asshole. I want to be a good manager. And if that's one thing that you want to be as a professional, then that's something that, that you're going to kind of check yourself on. And I think another one, I think I heard this from, um, Louise Kershaw, who was on the show. Brilliant, brilliant career coach. And she was kind of saying things like, um, in terms of understanding your values, is looking through your day and going, what did I enjoy today? What gave me energy? What did I not enjoy? What took energy away from me? [51:53] Al Elliott: Yeah [51:54] Leanne Elliott: And if the negatives are outweighing the positives on most days, then that's another indicator that you're out of sync with the organization you're working in or the role that you're in. So, in terms of what is purpose-led leadership, it's intentional, it's mindful, it's reflective, it's proactive, and it's done every day in a way that you self-audit yourself. And over time, when you find yourself in that right organization, your colleagues will help you audit that [52:23] Al Elliott: Yeah [52:25] Leanne Elliott: behaviour as well and check in. That is essentially what authentic leadership is. It's knowing who you are, how you want to operate in the world, and finding an organisation that will celebrate who you are and how you operate