StoryboardPM

Ask yourself these questions before you support any change. Where is your heart? What do you Value? Does it align with the business change you are being asked to support? Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider before giving up a job that doesn’t provide all the value you would like from it. (If nothing else, value work and work that project out, even if it is lackluster, as long as it is not against your values/morals. And then, look for other work…)

There is value in most every business that we can get behind to motivate our work, but it’s difficult to find a business that values everything we value and aligns with everything we want to make out of our lives and careers. Not all of us can make it work to work for ourselves or more of us would. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to give back to the business world some understanding I have gained from often hard experience that didn’t have to be so difficult. But it is yet to be determined how long I can play this game.

If you find an organization that can do more for professional development and advancing business then my business has the potential of doing by itself, then let me know because that’s the kind of change that motivates me and that’s the kind of business I would like to be a part of or help out in some way.

I hope your purpose and values in life and work line up and lead you to what you want to become and who and what you want to support. If not, there’s still time to change your future. Here’s where it starts!

Here is my takeaway #11 from a book that makes organizational project work worthwhile, “Change Management that Sticks: A Practical People-centered Approach, for High Buy-In and Meaningful Results”:

11) “Have you ever asked yourself how your personal values align with the business change you support? It’s a good question to ask yourself. It’s so much harder to support something that your personal values don’t align with…We are no different from any other person participating in a change process. If the change agent isn’t clear on their own stake in what’s changing, they can become their own saboteur. Supporting the journey will start to feel like wading through quicksand.”

Note: This comes from Chapter 1: Values of the Change Manager (page 1).

If you are reading this, you are probably like me not swayed by typical marketing and psychology. You are not a surface level person. You want substance. You dig deeper!

You and I want more for our business lives. We know the business world can do better. We want meaningful change. We are tired of being part of some company’s ideals and watered down values that don’t fully match our own. We want to reach our potentials. We want to support business that supports high performing individuals, teams, and organizations to do change right and progress our work in ways we can be proud of. We hope to align with businesses that already provide these environments, so we don’t have to run our own business to be part of such a team.

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STORY TIME

Recently, I reconnected with someone who just launched a book about a week ago, “Purposeful Performance” by Jonathan Stanley. We share similar values in progressing business professionals and businesses. I was honored when he asked me to read and write a review for his book. Here’s what I wrote on Amazon:

Jonathan is a Visionary. His book is packed full of actionable insights for the strategic level of business. He has captured the essence of how purpose-driven work can propel organizations to achieve more meaningful results. In fact, I have seen his book’s concepts in action firsthand. Having worked with Jonathan, I have witnessed his influence on the good of an entire organization.

His book leads right into my own company’s reason for being. It actually helped me form the purpose statement (as follows) for my small business, Storyboard PM:

“We make fast-paced change easier and enterprising work environments better by creating collaborative change cultures through introducing cohesive organizational change project management programs for all.”

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Jonathan is very generous. He practices what he preaches. I think he is right that businesses that are purpose-driven to give what they can give first, will receive more in return, and better yet will be able to work and live in accordance with something of real value.

Businesses and change experts will do well to put their values first and then align their work with serving people (employees, customers, and humanity in general) who value the same things, in ways that bring real value to their lives, their work, and your business. When you are living your life in harmony with what you value your life will be full and happy.

I believe fixing our work environments to better integrate knowledge, project, and change management can make all the difference in our businesses. These subject areas working in concert one with another will bring about the greatest changes that I value most in our working world for professionals and businesses alike. And that’s why I am working feverishly toward helping this cause for as long as I can afford to. Hopefully, helping professionals and businesses who are willing to strive to be their best selves will be my gig for a long time to come!