Being a Leader

Faith

My Why:

Helping those around me grow and succeed whether it be my family, my coworkers or our partners requires great personal sacrifice, it’s through these great sacrifices in life that I personally find passion. The sum of sacrifice and passion is purpose; the beautiful thing about purpose is it’s blindness to sacrifice. 

Why My Why:

It’s not what I do that defines me, it’s why I do it. My why isn’t just about work, it’s about my life. It’s a lesson I learned the hard way, a lesson I often remind myself of. I spent the first 26 years of my life with a different why. It went a little something like this, “Those around me are here to serve me.” Short and to the point, very self focused and it almost ended my life. It was in the darkest moment that my why changed and for the last 18 years I’ve been refining it to what it is today. 

I didn’t know exactly what to do, so I just did the opposite of what I had been doing. It took a while, but little by little I gained confidence, self-respect and it no longer became a chore putting myself in the service drivers seat. Service became my identity and a few short years later I find myself married and a few years after that I find myself with a new son and an additional business, CallSprout. For a two year period, I sacrificed every personal desire for my clients, my wife and my son, and being a human it blew up in my face, I’m far from perfect. 
The world passion spelled out in Scrabble letters.

I was missing an important ingredient, passion. Without passion, the void was filled with resentment. This was bad for business, my family and my mental health. The human element was gone, I had become a task completer. After taking a step back, I reevaluated what it was that truly mattered to me, to take a fearless inventory of myself to fully understand my strengths and my weaknesses. Understanding what motivates people, coming alongside them and getting in the trenches are my strengths. 

 That’s when I realized that my passion was not just in serving, but in helping others grow and succeed. I saw that the sacrifices I was making needed to be fueled by this passion. By aligning my sacrifices with my passions, I found a renewed sense of purpose. It transformed not just how I approached my work but how I lived my life.
 
Today, my purpose revolves around enabling growth and success in those around me—be it my family, my coworkers, or our partners. It’s a why that brings me passion and lets me see the sacrifices as stepping stones, not burdens. The beautiful thing about purpose is its blindness to sacrifice, making every challenge surmountable and every sacrifice worthwhile.
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Eric Bucher