By Jessica Salerno-Shumaker, OSCPA senior content manager
Sometimes focusing solely on executing daily tasks means missing the bigger picture of the goals you’re working toward.
“You need to occasionally take a pause and recall that purpose,” said Jim Laudato, managing member of the 912 Experience. “Being intentional about your contributions to the bigger picture is a valuable tool in terms of longevity and avoiding burnout.”
Intentionality is sometimes easier said than done, and Laudato said it takes time and awareness to achieve. It means reminding yourself, and your team, about the broader goals of the team and how your work contributes to that effort. He said making a point to remind each other of these goals can increase working with intention.
Intentionality can also build a strong foundation of trust and commitment, which is especially critical during difficult times. Think about your mood when you’ve had a tough workday, or the team is struggling with a project. It’s much easier to give up or get distracted when you don’t have a reminder of your overarching goals and things don’t feel as focused as they should.
“When the ground shakes, we don't rise to the occasion,” Laudato said. “We fall back on our training.”
Individually, professionals need to be able to act with humility and recognize that they have blind spots, he said. Personal development never ends, and to contribute to the team you need to have an awareness of your mistakes and a willingness to step up during hard times.
“When a negative event happens and we're not meeting our goals, and there's high stress, we're trying to get to a point where it doesn’t break us,” he said. “We could shift from negative to remind ourselves this can be turned into an opportunity, and we’re going to work to have something good come out of this.”