Purpose Clarified Through Adaptability

Accepting a position with a new organization after spending nearly my entire adult life with one company was a tremendous shift. The tasks I was responsible for on a daily basis were indeed similar to what I had been doing for years, but the industry and the team members I was serving were wildly different. Grinding through the rebuilding process was a necessity to get my bearings and earn the influence I’d need to deliver what they expected from me.

It didn’t take long to realize that while this organization had definitely mastered their specific craft, my nearly two decades in a large company gave me a perspective that could add value in multiple areas outside my job description. And since I was juggling so much less than I had been in the years leading up to that, I jumped at every opportunity I could find to get involved wherever they allowed me to - and some they didn’t really want to be involved with but hadn’t forbidden completely.

Over time, each of those leadership attributes grew stronger. The “bad situations” we face in our careers often forge the exact attributes needed for purpose-driven leadership; adaptability becomes a competitive advantage. The influence I was earning grew, both in my job and with the handful of folks I interacted with in that new business. We’ll look at that more next. Right now, though, I’ll challenge you to assess a recent transition or decision. Where did you lack definiteness? Plan one way to strengthen it over the next month.

Influence Earned in the Rebuild

The grind of rebuilding required many things; I had to earn the respect of my coworkers while learning as much as I possibly could (as fast as I could) about the operations of that new company, and I needed to intentionally invest some of the off-time this role provided into my relationship with Cindy and our kids. Renee had been married for a few years then so the long, long days in my last role weren’t something she noticed so much. Matt had just graduated high school and was making the transition to being on his own. While I certainly can’t blame it all on the long hours I was working, our relationship was strained, at best, at that point. The extra time after I started with the smaller company allowed us to be around each other more, but that wasn’t always a positive thing. I did, however, have so many more opportunities to be present for Cindy. The challenge there was that she had also accepted a new position and was working longer hours than me, but it still helped.

From 7a to 5p, Monday through Friday, I jumped at every opportunity I could find to learn the ropes; not just as it related to my role but in every aspect of the organization I could get close to. That frequently involved jumping in a truck with other management team members to visit the various work sites or blocking time on my calendar to learn different parts of the process from folks working near my office. I remember one of them being apprehensive when I showed up at his work station and asked to watch for an hour or so. He thought he was about to be fired! He told me the only time he had seen anyone in HR previously was when someone was losing their job. I was able to set him at ease immediately, but I realized that was something I’d need to address right away with everyone else I asked to spend time with.

In complete transparency, much of that time investment on the job was to become familiar with the processes so I could be competent in the hiring process. Regardless of what drove me to do it, investing that time provided seeds to tremendous opportunities through what was a relatively minor adversity. In Leveraging Leadership Growth, I referenced a conversation a friend and I had with a young man who asked us for the top things we did to start and grow our businesses. His response was “Show up” and mine was “Give a shit when you show up.” When I did those two things, with my new coworkers and with Cindy, the return on investment was remarkable! The influence earned in the rebuild served me immediately and it’s opened doors to more opportunities that I could have imagined.

Pivoting after a pay cut, one that hurt my ego even more than it hurt my wallet, yielded a situation where I learned the power of earning authentic relational influence. Quiet consistency during transition earns trust no title can grant. Had I attempted to ride the meager title I held or the experience my new teammates weren’t even aware of, I would have failed miserably - in earning their trust and respect as well as in fulfilling the responsibilities of my role.

As a quick side note, my lighter workload coming just as Cindy’s schedule grew busier was yet another seed to far greater opportunities. This likely comes as a huge surprise, but I’m fairly high strung and don’t sit still very well. She recognized that just a few weeks into my new role and pushed me to look for ways to sharpen my saw and pursue the purpose she saw me draw in all the years I worked in behavior-based safety. The first step tied directly to my job: I worked through an extensive prep course and was part of the first group on the planet to earn a professional credential from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and I’ve held that ever since. Immediately after that, she encouraged me to get licensed to teach John C. Maxwell’s content. She and I had studied his work closely for fifteen years at that point and I had been passing what we learned along to anyone who would listen, so she saw this spare time as an opportunity to develop even more clarity around my purpose.

The wins I experienced in my new role as well as away from work seemed small at the time, but they were definitely compounding. Each transition I made helped turn what felt like a tremendous loss in August 2014 (when I saw my first pay stub after my “promotion”) into strategic preparation for what was to come. We’ll look at that more next. Now, though, list a small piece of your transition story and share it with someone you trust. Be sure to look closely for the ripples that have followed.

Transitions Turn Loss into Strategic Preparation

As I approached the one-year mark in my new role with that small, family-owned business, I received my first annual performance review. My immediate manager and the owners of the company were keenly aware of all I had taken on in that position as well as in my time away from work. They saw tremendous return on investment and provided me with a 20 percent increase. Believe it or not, I attempted to negotiate; not for more money, but for more time off. I asked for an additional week of PTO and a ten percent raise instead of the full amount they offered, largely because I had registered a business around the certification with Maxwell Leadership and wanted to be able to have the time to serve other small businesses if the need presented itself. I had no idea how things would unfold around that in the years that followed, but we’ll work through some of that soon enough. For our purposes here, my attempted negotiation was declined.

Don’t misunderstand me here, I was very appreciative - that they recognized the work I was putting in and that they were willing to reward that with compensation. That was wildly different from the scenario I stepped away from a year prior. One thing living through such an extended period of scarcity taught me was how to make a little bit of money go a long way, which has served me well ever since. Negotiating value, after a lowball offer and through toxic situations, built on that frugal skill set and helped me realize how crucial it is to base decisions on principles and values rather than finances. Asking for the additional week and being willing to pass up half of the pay increase had nothing to do with being unappreciative, it was completely based on wanting to ensure I continued to provide them with the best service I was capable of while having time to pursue the fledgling business I had just started.

Here’s the kicker: that increase took my salary to exactly what I was making when I left the company I was with for nearly twenty years - with significantly less demands on my time. If I really had made the biggest mistake of my career in leaving that company a year prior, it sure wasn’t shaping up that way. Making the best of career transitions, even when those transitions come with a cut in pay, isn’t survival or mere recovery - it’s intentional preparation that transforms loss into the chains of purpose-driven leadership readiness.

The promotion-demotion in 2014 felt like a major setback but owning my part and searching for the hidden seeds forced me to pivot with definite plans. As I walked out those plans, doors opened that allowed me to hone a clear purpose and begin strengthening each of the leadership attributes I’d need to lead where I landed and to navigate each opportunity that would follow. Making the best of these situations isn’t about avoiding loss—it’s about using it to reclaim “lost land” in influence, resilience, and direction.

Adversity’s seed grows strongest when we stop wishing for easier circumstances and instead build definite plans rooted in clear purpose—turning pay cuts and transitions into preparation for bigger opportunities. Each of the significant career transitions I made before moving into our business full time reinforced that real leadership isn’t tied to title or salary but to consistent adaptability and service. Quiet reliability through pay cuts and transitions earned deeper trust at home and subtle respect at work, proving influence compounds when we model purpose amid loss.

Before wrapping up this look at rebuilding from the loss that comes with transitions and the occasional pay cut, we’ll work through several questions geared at helping you mine your transitions for purpose seeds. First though, think back through each thing I’ve challenged you to reflect on along the way. Outline how one pivot could amplify your current leadership impact.

Mining Transitions for Purpose Seeds

When I accepted the position with that small, family-owned business I truly thought it would be the organization I retired from. I was fascinated by so much of the work and developed many great relationships. Not long after my first annual review and the substantial pay increase that accompanied it, a friend asked me to look into a position he had interest in but couldn’t act on directly due to the role he was in. As I talked with him about what I learned, he shared that it wasn’t something he could pursue but he immediately encouraged me to consider it for myself. I was content so I hadn’t given it a single thought - until he suggested it. After a brief conversation with the owner of that company, one where I was very transparent about how I felt in my current role and about the business I had started hitting with a stick in my spare time, I received a job offer. Interestingly enough, the salary was about what I had accepted in my current role a year before and well below where I was at the time with the recent increase. That said, it was in an industry that I had a lot of experience in and would require slightly less time to fulfill - which meant I could focus even more on my new business.

1. What career transition or pay cut still carries weight?
2. What blind spot or habit did it reveal, and what seed of greater purpose (e.g., definiteness of plans) was hidden?
3. How could a decisive pivot strengthen your definiteness of decision or plans?
4. In what ways might nurturing this seed improve your influence without title—at home or work?
5. What three small, immediate actions can you take this week to plant and nurture it?

As I’ve suggested so many times before, write each response down right away and share one step you can take immediately with someone you trust to hold you accountable.