The Career Move Most High-Performers Forget to Make: Aligning with Purpose Before the Next Step
Most high-performing professionals in Consulting and Finance are exceptionally good at preparing for what comes next. They research the company, understand the role, rehearse their answers, and present a polished version of their experience.
But there is one question that often goes unasked -- the one that, in my experience, determines whether a career move feels truly meaningful or quietly hollow once the excitement fades.
"What is the purpose driving everything I do -- and does this next step align with it?"
Career Success Without Purpose Can Feel Empty
I know this first-hand. Not just from working with leaders, but from my own search for purpose -- and from the years I spent living out of alignment with mine.
Career success without awareness of your purpose can start to feel like running fast in the wrong direction. The milestones arrive. The titles and the compensation follow. And yet something feels off -- a sense that the work has drifted away from what actually matters.
When leaders I work with describe purpose, they often describe it as a mission bigger than themselves -- something they feel called to live out. For one client, that purpose is "supporting growth and evolution in others and herself through every interaction and through the work she does." For another, it is "building a business that creates a happy life for his family and makes him the role model they aspire to."
Purpose does not have to be grand or philosophical. But when it is clear, it changes everything -- it becomes the filter through which career decisions, opportunities, and trade-offs become far easier to navigate.
How to Test for Alignment -- Starting in the Interview Room
One of the most valuable career lessons I learned was to clarify my own purpose and values first -- before accepting a role -- and then to test for mutual alignment during the interview itself.
Most candidates focus exclusively on making a strong impression. The best career conversations I have witnessed are two-way: the candidate is also assessing whether the organisation is right for them.
Some of the most revealing questions you can ask in an interview:
How are the organisation's purpose and values practised in daily life -- not just stated on a website?
How are they practised when pressure rises and difficult trade-offs have to be made?
Can you share a real example of a decision the leadership team made that reflected those values?
Asking for real stories and concrete examples -- rather than polished talking points -- gives you a far more honest picture of the culture and the leaders in the room. Research consistently shows that perceived values alignment is one of the strongest predictors of long-term engagement, motivation, and career satisfaction.
"The best interviews are about testing the mutual fit. Knowing how organisations live their purpose protects you from entering a role that looks exciting but may feel meaningless once you are in it."
Visualising the Future That Pulls You Forward
Clarity about purpose is also the foundation of effective visualisation -- one of the most underused tools available to high-performing professionals.
Your mind is already painting pictures of your future. The question is whether it is rehearsing the future you want, or the one you fear.
Research has found that people who visualise the process of reaching their goal -- not just the outcome -- make significantly more progress. Rehearsing the journey alongside the destination strengthens motivation and substantially increases the likelihood of achieving it.
If you want to start, try these three questions:
The Wish: What change do I most want to make -- and why does it genuinely matter to me?
The Future Self: When I imagine already living this change, what do I see, hear, and feel?
The Path: What does the step-by-step journey from here to there actually look like?
A Question Worth Returning To
What is the purpose and mission already driving everything you do? And when you look honestly at your current role, your next opportunity, and the direction you are heading -- does it align?
If the answer brings some discomfort, that discomfort is worth paying attention to. It is often the first signal that something important is trying to get your attention.
