Is it time to find your purpose?

You know that feeling you get at work… the gnawing question about whether the work you do is making a difference? Is it contributing to the greater good? Does it fulfill you?

You’re not alone, and our new Impact Teams are going to help you, and a cohort of other purpose seekers, connect with your purpose.

Research published in 2016 by Imperative and LinkedIn showed that 74% of professionals want to find work that delivers a sense of purpose, and many will take a pay cut to get it. Master’s degrees and years spent grinding at consultancies, finance institutions, and tech giants don’t cut it anymore. According to a report from Deloitte titled the Purpose Driven Professional:

“Millennials, Baby Boomers, retirees, and Gen Xers are increasingly seeking opportunities to pursue social impact, while working in the corporate sector.”

This is because we are living in a new Purpose Economy where employees increasingly expect to work at a company for a standalone project, as opposed to an entire career. Reid Hoffman, who is frequently referenced for his quote: “Ironically, in a changing world, playing it safe is one of the riskiest things you can do… You have to be constantly reinventing yourself and investing in the future.”, calls this a “tour of duty”.

And while a dreamy notion, actually finding your purpose is no easy task — there often are limited openings on corporate social responsibility teams, creating business cases for social impact integration can be a challenge on your own, and you may struggle with simply defining what your purpose might be, especially when you’re constantly called on by the current demands of your job. And that’s why we created MovingWorlds Impact Teams.

After supporting over 550+ Experteering placements in the last few years, we noticed something: Most of our Experteers do not see their projects as an escape, but rather as an accelerator — a way to find their purpose in life and pursue a career direction that helps them tap into it. This feedback, along with many hours of research and testing, helped us develop Impact Teams: An accessible program for professionals who are looking to find their purpose, grow their skills, and make an impact in the process.

Impact Teams build on the transformative power of Experteering by connecting you to a cohort of fellow learners, provides assessments on your leadership and purpose drivers, gives your special training, guides you through global networking, and then provides premium-matching support — typically reserved for our Institute Fellows and premium corporate partners. The accelerated timeline is built around a 2- to 4-week in field experience, thus creating a flexible timeline to enable both currently employed and between career professionals to join in. To help you act on your purpose drivers and your new skills, Teams also provide facilitated networking and special access to industry leaders through webinars. Our previous Experteers, featured in Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fast Company, Seattle Times, Globe & Mail, Devex and more all report that Experteering helps them understand their purpose drivers, develop their skills, expand their knowledge, and connects them to a global network.

And we’re not alone in realizing the life-enriching, life-extending, and professional development benefits of truly meaningful Experteering projects. According to additional research from Deloitte and its annual volunteer impact survey,

“volunteering experience may play a big role in building leadership skills considered to be ‘must haves’ for successful leaders.”

MovingWorlds Impact Teams will run every few months, with cohorts of fellow learners built around skill, industry, or cause-areas. Applications to join the first team of 15 using business strategy to create global change are due August 15. More driven by a cause? The Gender Equality Team is accepting applications until November 15, and for those driven by changing the healthcare industry for the better, applications close on February 15. Want to propose initiatives in your interest area? We want you to vote on which teams will come next!

We hope you’ll consider applying to one of our upcoming Impact Teams and join us on this journey.