Turning Self-Knowledge into Contribution, Leadership and Growth
Professional Development: Self-Discovery at Work explores how we can put what we learn about ourselves into practice, make a meaningful contribution and continue to develop through our working lives.
In Professional Development: What Is Self-Discovery?, Albert, head of operations at a regional water company in the north of England, had begun to understand himself differently. By writing, questioning and rewriting his Success, Passion and Failure Stories, he had recognised the values that shaped his decisions, the contribution that gave his work meaning, the future he wanted to explore and the abilities he most wanted to use.
In Professional Development: Self-Discovery in Action, Albert put what he had learnt to the test as he considered career opportunities, questioned his assumptions and decided what felt right for him. He turned down a director’s role at a large national utility, used self-coaching to prepare for an interview with a smaller flood partnership and self-directing to take an active role in the conversation. By the time he accepted the role of head of operations, he had a clearer understanding of why it was the right next step for him.
But making the right career choice was one thing.
Putting what he had learnt into practice was another.
Albert was about to discover what happened when the understanding he had developed about himself met the realities of a new working environment.
How would he put his values into practice?
How would he use his purpose to guide the contribution he wanted to make?
How would he use his motivated abilities to make a contribution?
And how could he continue to learn, develop and take responsibility for the direction of his working life while helping others do the same?
His self-discovery was entering a new stage.
Finding His Feet: Self-Leadership in Action
When Albert began his new role at the flood partnership, he was keen to make a positive contribution.
He had been appointed because of his experience, his ability to work with different people and his approach to resolving complex problems.
He wanted to put these abilities to good use.
But he also knew that he was entering an organisation with its own culture, relationships and ways of working.
The partnership was small, with a team of twelve, but its members included water companies, councils, farmers and community groups, each with their own priorities.
He resisted the temptation to assume that what had worked well elsewhere would necessarily work here.
Instead, he began by listening, asking questions and observing how people approached their work.
He wanted to understand what colleagues valued, what they found challenging and what they hoped to achieve.
He paid attention to how decisions were made, how people responded to different opinions and what happened when a problem had no obvious solution.
He also wanted to understand what shaped the partnership’s priorities and the culture in which people worked.
He asked himself questions.
What do I need to understand before I can make a useful contribution?
Albert realised that he needed to learn how the partnership operated, what each member was responsible for and where their work intersected.
He arranged conversations with colleagues and members across the region, asking about their priorities, the challenges they faced and what they needed from the people they worked with.
He used what he learnt to build a clearer picture of how his role connected with the wider partnership.
What assumptions am I making about how things work here?
He noticed that he sometimes expected people to approach problems in ways that had worked well at the water company.
Rather than assuming his approach would be appropriate, he asked colleagues how they had handled similar situations and why particular processes were in place.
Where he saw opportunities to do things differently, he first sought to understand the reasons behind existing practices before suggesting alternatives.
What can I learn from the people around me?
Albert recognised that his colleagues brought knowledge and experience he did not yet possess, from farming to community campaigning.
He invited their perspectives, listened to their feedback and looked for opportunities to learn from the way they worked.
When he encountered something unfamiliar, he was willing to ask for help rather than pretend he already knew the answer.
As he learnt more, he began to identify where he could make a useful contribution.
He could see which of his abilities were most relevant to the challenges facing the partnership, where he needed to develop his understanding and which relationships he needed to strengthen.
He then acted on what he had learnt.
He followed up conversations, shared his observations, sought feedback on his approach and adjusted what he did in response.
For Albert, this was self-leadership in practice.
He was taking responsibility for his learning, making deliberate choices about how to approach his work and following through on what he recognised needed to be done.
He began to see that self-discovery was not only about understanding his own experiences. It also helped him recognise how his values, abilities and preferred ways of working influenced the way he approached new situations.
Using His Motivated Abilities
As Albert became more familiar with the partnership, he began to recognise opportunities to use the abilities he had identified during his self-discovery.
One situation involved a scheme to protect a market town that had flooded twice in five years. The plan was to hold back floodwater on farmland upstream, but it had stalled.
Gordon, who farmed the land, was concerned about losing fields his family had worked for three generations. Ian, the council’s emergency planner, was under pressure to protect the town before another winter. Kofi, now representing the water company, needed to know how the scheme would affect the network.
Each of them had their own priorities, and people had begun to defend their positions rather than explore what might work best for everyone.
Albert recognised something familiar in the situation.
It reminded him of the night of the flood, the experience he had explored through his Success Story, when he had found satisfaction in helping people listen to one another and find a way forward.
He arranged a discussion with the people involved, in Gordon’s farmhouse kitchen.
He began by asking each of them what they were most afraid would happen.
Gordon said he was afraid of being the farmer who lost the family’s land.
Ian said he was afraid of standing in the town square after the next flood, explaining why nothing had been done.
Kofi laughed, and said he had been asked that question before.
He listened for the issues behind their different positions and asked questions to help them understand one another.
As the discussion developed, the group began to identify areas of common ground.
They could see where their priorities overlapped and where they might need to find a compromise.
Together, they began to develop a solution that took account of the different concerns: smaller storage areas on the fields Gordon used least, and a fair agreement for the land.
For Albert, the experience was satisfying.
He had used his ability to understand complex situations, listen to different viewpoints and help people find a way forward.
He had also learnt more about the partnership and the people he was working with.
The experience reinforced something he had begun to understand through self-discovery: his motivated abilities were not simply things he could do well.
They were abilities he wanted to use because they enabled him to make the kind of contribution that mattered to him.
That evening, he wrote it as his new Success Story.
His New Success Story
The Situation: A flood scheme had stalled because the people involved couldn’t agree.
What I Did: I brought them together, and we agreed a solution.
What It Revealed: I’m good at resolving disputes.
He read it back.
It was the kind of story he had stopped writing.
He asked himself: What did I actually do that made the difference?
It was the question he had asked in Gordon’s kitchen: what are you most afraid will happen?
He remembered Kofi laughing, because he had been asked that question before, on the night of the flood.
He rewrote the story.
The Situation: A scheme to protect a market town from flooding had stalled. Gordon was afraid of losing land his family had farmed for three generations, Ian needed to protect the town before another winter and Kofi needed to know what it meant for the water network.
What I Did: I brought them together in Gordon’s kitchen and asked each of them what they were most afraid would happen. Then I listened, and helped them hear one another. Together, they agreed smaller storage areas on the fields Gordon used least, and a fair agreement for the land.
What It Revealed: The question I asked on the night of the flood still works. When people say what they’re most afraid of, they begin to hear one another. Helping people find common ground is the contribution I most want to make.
Putting His Values into Practice
Albert’s values had helped him evaluate career opportunities.
Now they would influence the choices he made within the role itself.
He encountered situations in which people disagreed about priorities, decisions affected members in different ways or the easiest course of action was not necessarily the fairest.
When the partnership’s funding was cut, there was pressure to drop a scheme for a small village in favour of one that protected more homes. The figures made the case. But the village had been waiting for help for six years, and no one had yet asked the people who lived there what a further delay would mean for them.
Albert thought of Derek in the depot yard, and of his own Failure Story.
This time, he spoke up before the decision was made, and asked to visit the village first.
He recognised that values were not simply principles to identify during a period of reflection.
They became meaningful through the decisions he made and the way he treated people.
Trust, for example, required him to listen to what colleagues had to say, keep commitments and communicate honestly when circumstances changed.
Fairness meant considering whose perspectives were being heard, who might be affected by a decision and whether different concerns had been given proper consideration.
Meaningful contribution also required him to look beyond completing his own responsibilities.
He needed to consider how his work affected other people and whether the solutions he helped develop addressed the issues that mattered.
There would be times when he could not satisfy everyone or achieve the outcome he wanted.
He couldn’t control every decision or remove every difficulty.
What he could do was remain attentive to his values, consider the choices available to him and take responsibility for his own actions.
He also recognised that living by his values did not mean assuming that his first judgement was always correct.
He needed to remain willing to listen, question his assumptions and learn from the perspectives of others.
Self-discovery had helped him identify what mattered to him.
His experiences at work were helping him understand what it took to put those values into practice.
Learning Through Everyday Experiences
As Albert settled into the role, he continued to reflect on his experiences.
Some things went well.
Others didn’t produce the outcomes he had hoped for.
At the meeting in the village hall, he set out the partnership’s options clearly and answered every question.
Afterwards, Mary, who ran the village’s flood group, stayed behind to speak to him.
“You explained it well,” she said. “But you did most of the talking. We’ve been waiting six years. We wanted you to hear what that’s been like.”
Rather than treating every success as proof that he had got everything right or every difficulty as a sign that he had failed, he began to examine what he could learn.
That evening, he wrote it as his new Failure Story.
His New Failure Story
The Situation: I held a meeting in the village hall to explain the partnership’s options after the funding cut.
What I Did: I set out the options clearly and answered every question.
What It Revealed: The village was frustrated by the delay.
He read it back.
It was the same shape as the first version of his reorganisation story: every line pointing away from him.
He asked himself the question Grace had asked: Where was I in this story?
He had gone to the village to listen.
Then he had stood at the front of the hall and done what he had always done well: explained.
He rewrote the story.
The Situation: A village had been waiting six years for flood protection, and the partnership’s funding had been cut. I had asked to visit before any decision was made, so that the people affected could be heard.
What I Did: I prepared the options carefully and explained them clearly. I answered every question. But I did most of the talking, and I didn’t ask the people in the room what the wait had been like for them.
What It Revealed: Even when I set out to listen, I can fall back on explaining. Being heard before a decision is made means giving people the space to speak, not just the chance to ask questions.
The story reminded him that his values were tested not only by the decisions he supported, but by how well he listened before they were made.
He used insightful self-questions to explore his experiences.
What worked well, and what contributed to that outcome?
What did I overlook or misunderstand?
What feedback have I received, and what might it tell me?
What would I do differently next time?
He also paid attention to the feedback of others.
When colleagues responded positively to his approach, he considered what had helped.
When someone challenged his judgement or suggested another way of working, he tried to understand the perspective behind the feedback rather than dismissing it.
He went back to the village a week later. This time, he asked one question, sat down and listened. What he heard helped persuade the partnership to keep the village scheme, in a smaller first phase.
This was effective self-feedback in practice.
Albert was learning to assess his own contribution openly, recognise his strengths and identify where he needed to develop.
Putting His Purpose into Practice: Helping Others Develop
As Albert grew more confident in his role, he began to recognise opportunities to put his purpose into practice.
He had identified that he wanted to use his experience to help people and organisations understand problems more clearly, make meaningful decisions and develop their capacity to find solutions.
He began to see how he could put this purpose into practice by helping colleagues think through challenges and develop their own answers.
He noticed that people sometimes came to him expecting him to resolve a problem or tell them what to do.
Lauren, a project officer in her first year at the partnership, came to him when a landowner refused to let her survey team onto his land. She wanted Albert to ring him.
The survey was already behind schedule, and Lauren was frustrated. It would have taken Albert five minutes.
Although he could offer advice when it was appropriate, he also recognised that people could benefit from having the opportunity to think through a situation themselves.
He began asking different questions.
What do you think is happening here?
What have you already tried, and what have you learnt from it?
What matters most to you in finding a solution?
What options have you considered?
What might you do next?
Lauren left his office without the answer she had come for.
A few days later, she arranged to visit the landowner herself, and the survey went ahead the following month.
Afterwards, Albert suggested she write it as a Success Story, under the three headings he used himself.
She brought it to him the next day.
The Situation: A landowner refused to let my survey team onto his land.
What I Did: I visited him and persuaded him to agree.
What It Revealed: Persistence pays off.
Albert recognised the shape. It was how he had written his own first stories.
But he didn’t say so.
Instead, he asked her questions.
What did you do differently when you visited him?
What did he tell you that you hadn’t known before?
What changed his mind?
Lauren thought for a while.
Then she said that on her first two calls, she had explained what the survey was for and why it mattered.
On the visit, she had asked him what the survey meant for him.
He had told her about the last survey team, years before, who had left his gates open and his sheep on the road.
She had promised to walk the land with the team herself, and close every gate.
She rewrote the story.
The Situation: A landowner refused twice to let my survey team onto his land, even after I explained why the survey mattered.
What I Did: I visited him and asked what the survey meant for him. He told me how a previous team had left his gates open and his sheep on the road. I promised to walk the land with the team myself, and close every gate.
What It Revealed: People are more willing to help when they’ve been heard first. Asking what something means for them can matter more than explaining what I need.
She looked up from the page.
“That’s what you did with me,” she said. “You didn’t ring him. You asked me questions.”
Albert realised that, in that moment, he had been living the purpose he had discovered: helping someone understand a problem more clearly and find her own way forward.
These questions encouraged colleagues to examine their experiences, consider different perspectives and identify their own way forward.
Albert was not withdrawing his support.
He was using his experience to help others develop their capacity to think, decide and act.
In doing so, he was beginning to fulfil the purpose he had identified through self-discovery.
He recognised something of his own journey in this approach.
He hadn’t discovered what mattered to him because someone else had supplied the answers.
He had learnt through reflection, questioning, feedback and examining his experiences.
He wanted to create opportunities for others to do the same.
This also required him to practise self-leadership.
He needed to be aware of the influence he had, take responsibility for the way he worked with others and recognise when his preferred approach might not suit a particular situation.
Helping others develop was not about reproducing his own answers or expecting everyone to work as he did.
It was about helping people understand their circumstances, recognise their abilities and make choices that reflected what mattered to them.
That evening, he wrote it as his new Passion Story.
His New Passion Story
The Situation: A colleague asked me to ring a landowner for her.
What I Did: I asked her questions instead.
What It Revealed: I believe in coaching.
He read it back.
It made the decision sound easy, and it hadn’t been.
He asked himself: Why didn’t I just ring him, when it would have taken five minutes and Lauren was frustrated with me?
He thought of the hours he had spent helping Kofi prepare for his first board presentation, asking questions rather than giving answers.
Kofi presented with confidence now. He wouldn’t, if Albert had done it for him.
He rewrote the story.
The Situation: Lauren, in her first year, asked me to ring a landowner who had refused her survey team twice. The survey was already behind schedule, and she was frustrated. It would have taken me five minutes.
What I Did: I didn’t ring him. I asked her questions instead, and trusted her to find her own way forward, even though she left my office disappointed and the survey might be delayed further.
What It Revealed: I believe people grow when they’re trusted to find their own answers. I’m prepared to hold back, even when stepping in would be quicker and more welcome, because the answer someone finds for themselves is the one that lasts.
Albert read his three new stories alongside the ones he had written before.
His Success Stories helped him recognise the conditions in which he worked well and the contributions he found most satisfying.
His Passion Stories reminded him of the values that influenced his decisions and the principles he wanted to uphold.
His Failure Stories helped him examine difficult experiences, recognise what had gone wrong and consider what he might do differently.
Together, they showed how far he had come since the night he first wrote in his notebook, and how much he was still learning.
He began to see that the benefits of self-discovery could extend beyond his own professional development.
The understanding he had developed was influencing how he contributed to his team, how he approached problems and how he helped other people learn.
Continuing to Shape His WorkLife: Vision and Growth
Several months into his new role, Albert and Grace walked along the quayside on a summer evening, and she asked him the question that had started his journey: what did he want from his working life?
His answer had become more grounded in experience.
He was using the abilities he most valued, contributing to work that gave him satisfaction and developing relationships that helped people work together more effectively. He was also encountering new challenges, learning from feedback and discovering aspects of himself that he had not previously considered.
His experience was bringing his vision into sharper focus: he wanted to use his experience to help people and organisations work collaboratively, solve problems and develop their understanding so they could make meaningful decisions and find solutions.
These experiences were helping him shape a clearer picture of the working life he wanted to create and the contribution he hoped to make in the future.
His values, purpose, vision and motivated abilities continued to provide a useful foundation, but he understood that applying them required attention and judgement.
Different situations called for different responses.
His priorities might evolve, his abilities could develop and his understanding of how to realise his vision could deepen as he gained experience.
He continued to ask himself questions, examine his experiences and consider what he wanted to do differently.
Self-coaching helped him work through challenges and make decisions.
Self-directing helped him identify and pursue his next steps.
Self-leadership helped him take responsibility for his choices, his development and the contribution he made.
He had developed a way of approaching his working life that allowed him to continue reflecting on his experiences, learning from them and using what he discovered to shape his next steps.
Professional self-discovery had begun with understanding himself. It had helped him make a career choice that reflected what mattered to him. Now it was influencing how he worked, how he contributed and how he helped others develop.
Creating a WorkLife That Reflects What Matters Most
Albert’s story illustrates how self-discovery can extend beyond understanding yourself or choosing the right career opportunity.
It can influence the way you approach your work, use your abilities, respond to challenges and contribute to the people around you.
You don’t need to have all the answers before you begin.
You can learn from the experiences you already have, ask yourself questions that help you see a situation differently and use feedback to recognise what is working and what might need to change.
Where am I using the abilities I most enjoy, and where could I use them more?
When have my values been tested at work recently, and how did I respond?
What feedback have I received, and what might it be telling me?
Where am I in the stories I tell about my work?
Who could I help to find their own answers, rather than giving them mine?
You can also use what you learn to help others develop.
When you make space for people to reflect, explore their options and find their own answers, you help them build the confidence and capacity to direct their own working lives.
Professional self-discovery is not about finding a single, final answer to who you are.
It is about developing an understanding of yourself that you can use, question and deepen as your circumstances change.
For Albert, the journey began by looking back.
It led him to make a more considered career choice and, in time, to discover new ways of contributing and helping others.
Your journey will be your own.
The experiences you draw on, the values you identify and the direction you choose will reflect your circumstances and aspirations.
What matters is continuing to ask yourself what you are learning, what you want to contribute and how you can use that understanding to shape your working life.
Self-discovery helps you understand what matters.
Self-coaching helps you find your answers.
Self-directing helps you choose your next steps.
Self-leadership helps you take responsibility for the way forward.
Together, they offer a way to keep learning, contributing and creating a WorkLife that reflects what matters most to you.
Continue the Work
If Albert’s story has prompted you to reflect on your own working life, these resources offer different ways to explore what matters to you, recognise your strengths and consider what comes next.
Explore Professional Development — stories and reflections on professional development, learning and the experiences that shape our working lives.
Explore The Art of WorkLife Storytelling – discover how the stories we tell about our experiences can help us understand ourselves, recognise what matters and use what we learn to shape our working lives.
Explore Self-Discovery Story Lessons — practical, story-based resources that help you reflect on your experiences, understand yourself more clearly and apply what you learn to your working life.
Explore Self-Discovery Programmes — Follow a guided learning journey to explore your core values, purpose, vision and motivated abilities, and align your professional and personal choices with what matters most to you.
Explore Professional Self-Coaching Resources — Work through focused resources that help you ask yourself the right questions, find your own answers and take action on what you learn.
Explore Individual WorkLife Coaching — when you need space to think with someone else about your working life, a difficult situation, a decision or what comes next, dedicated coaching sessions help you explore what matters, see your situation differently and find your own way forward.
Work With Me: Individual WorkLife Coaching, Commissioned Learning Resources, Speaking Engagements and Organisational Partnerships
Support This Work: Your support makes a difference and helps me to continue creating resources that are accessible to everyone. Thank you. Carmel
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