JUNE 10 - 11, 2026

CIPD Festival of Work: Leadership Labs

Articulate Your Life’s Purpose

  • A. Write down 5 things that make you feel angry. For example, at a societal level, on social media, in day to day life. If you’re struggling, think about 5 things you would change if you were President of Planet Earth.

    B. Summarise the key theme of what makes you angry in 1-2 words

  • A. Write down 5 things you love to do. Think about what you’re doing when you lose track of time, what you enjoyed naturally as a child, what, if taken away from you, would you miss deeply or what has been taken away from you that you miss?

    B. Summarise the key theme of what you enjoy in 1-2 words

  • A. Write down 5 things you are talented at. Think about what comes easily to you, what you get complimented on at work or at home.

    B. Summarise the key theme of what you are talented at in 1-2 words

  • Finesse your purpose statement using either of the following formats. Use whichever one is most inspirational to you:


    Version 1: My life’s purpose is to use my passion for (passion) and talent for (talent) to resolve my anger of (anger in negative form). 

    Version 2: My life’s purpose is to use my passion for (passion) and talent for (talent) to (anger in positive form/value). 

Articulate Your Vision

  • An effective vision statement has three qualities and can be done at a personal, team division and organizational level.  Team or divisional visions should be in service to the organisational vision (if there is one).

    1. A definable destination - like an address you will know when you have got there

    2. Beyond what you currently know how to achieve - if you know how to do it it is an objective not a vision

    3. Inspiring to all stakeholders, not just a few senior executives and shareholders

  • Take your team or company’s current vision statement.

    You can rate the effectiveness of your current vision by giving it a score out of 5 for each dimension below.

    1. A definable destination - like an address you will know when you have got there

    2. Beyond what you currently know how to achieve - if you know how to do it, it is an objective not a vision

    3. Inspiring to all stakeholders, not just a few senior executives and shareholders

    Now you have a score for each dimension, you can see the gaps in your vision and where to improve.

  • A. If you/your team/your division or your organisation were to do their job really well for say 10 years with no obstacles or challenges to get in the way what would the outcome look like?

    B. Now make sure it fits into the following criteria:

    1. A definable destination - like an address you will know when you have got there

    2. Beyond what you currently know how to achieve - if you know how to do it, it is an objective not a vision

    3. Inspiring to all stakeholders, not just a few senior executives and shareholders

    C. Now challenge yourself to shorten the vision statement to between 3 and 5 words.