The story
Amit Soundalgekar is Founder and CEO of AROHAN in India, a business strategy consultant and a leadership and business coach. He started in sales and pharmaceutical sales, built a water treatment business, then gave it up for more than twenty years of consulting, coaching and facilitation. Today he also farms organically and works to conserve a local cattle breed in the Western Ghats.
He says himself that "none of these professions have a connect." What gives them a direction now is a purpose he can put into one sentence.
“We earn a living by what we get, but we earn a life by what we give.”
The skill at work: Framing & Purpose (Skill 5)
Framing & Purpose is the skill of naming what matters and why, so that people can find their way through uncertainty. A clear frame turns a confusing situation into a direction people want to move towards. Amit shows how a leader can find that frame for his own life.
Honest about where he started
Asked whether his purpose had always been there, Amit smiled: “I will appear too wise if the answer is yes.” Early on, success meant material gain and “what is in it for me?” The harder he pushed, the further success moved away, like a mirage.
Finding purpose through the work
Being a facilitator and coach helped him understand his own purpose. With it he became calmer, and letting go of what did not fit became easy. He has no regret about finding it late, because his earlier experiences fed into the purpose he lives today.
A frame in one sentence
His purpose fits in four words: we live to give. He uses it as a daily test of what he is contributing now, through his work, his farm and the people around him.
A personal reason behind the purpose
Amit lost his father, a fit national-level athlete with a disciplined life, to lung cancer. His doctor friends pointed to two possible causes: lifestyle, or what he ate. That is why Amit farms organically, to give people food free of pesticides.
A purpose bigger than one farm
In India, he says, “hands that eat are more than hands that cultivate,” and many villages are left with people over fifty. With a few friends, Amit works with rural youth so they can build wealth through farming and stay in their villages. If wealth is created there, he believes reverse migration will follow.
Purpose makes reflection a joy
When he hands the what and the how to others and focuses on the why, he says you suddenly become purpose driven, and even reflection becomes a joy.
Try this
Finish this sentence in your own words: “I earn a life by giving …” Then look at your calendar for next week. Which meeting or task serves that sentence most?
Another story of this skill
Complexity as a Calling: Zhao Ying's story of Framing & Purpose →
This article is our interpretation of Amit Soundalgekar's story, based on the conversation on The Adaptive Edge Podcast. The framework names are ours; the events and lessons are his own.