“Purpose, for me, means something that motivates me or makes me feel satisfied, and also being impactful to other people in some way. That’s what makes me feel like I’ve got some purpose.”

“I probably feel most connected to my work when I’m confident and excited about something I’ve built. And in turn, that’s when I can see how much it impacts someone else as well. When I start to see that loop being closed, from something I’ve built and launched and shared, to other people interacting with it and using it, that’s when I feel really connected to what I’m doing.”

“I think for me, being resourced means having the things that I need to do what I need to do well. If I’ve got what I need, then I feel resourced.”

“I’m a relatively calm person, which helps. But there are a few things I do to stay grounded in challenging moments. I’m a big believer in controlling what you can control, and recognising when something is outside of that. Focusing on what I can control helps me anchor. I also try to zoom out and look at things objectively from all sides. I’m probably one of those annoying people who can see both sides of an issue, but it helps me separate emotions and build a clearer picture of what’s really going on.”

“We’ve had this a lot with Open Org. When we first launched, the word transparency was thrown around a lot, which helped people get excited about what we were doing. But executives often heard that and assumed it meant we were trying to build radically open and radically transparent companies, which scared them to death. That’s not what we’re doing. Our mission is about helping people teams and leadership teams get the basic building blocks in place around things like communication, expectations, and decision making. Basic stuff that you’d expect in any business, but which often isn’t there. That’s the space we work in, not something scary or radical, just practical foundations that make companies better.”

“The impact I’d like to make, even in small ways, is to make life easier for HR teams so they can build better companies. In small ways that could mean giving them access to a template that saves them a few hours, or providing examples of how other companies do things, so they’ve got a launch pad and some inspiration. Startup HR teams are stretched. They don’t have time, they don’t have peers to turn to. So if we can make their lives easier with resources like that, it impacts employee experience and people experience, and hopefully also company performance, because improving communication and decision making improves everything.”

“For me, one habit that helps is exercise. I don’t do it enough, but whenever I do, it resets me immediately. I try to do 20 minutes a day, often in the middle of the day, especially when I hit a lull or feel unproductive. If I can take a break, do some exercise, and come back, I feel like I’ve reset and re-centred.”

“My sense of purpose hasn’t really changed over time. I don’t think about it actively a lot, but I’ve always been a people pleaser at heart. I love helping people, being useful, and building things that have impact. I’ve worked for myself for over 12 years, and it’s never been about making loads of money. It’s always been about creating things that are useful. What has evolved is the focus. I’ve fallen more into the people and culture space, so my work now zones in more on those communities. But the driver, being useful and impactful, has always stayed the same.”

“My message to the Resourced Humans Collective would be to look after yourselves. Think about putting your oxygen mask on first. We speak to dozens of HR folks every week, and I see too many at breaking point, waiting too long to do the thing they know they need to do. It’s a natural inclination in HR to put others first, but you can’t look after others if you’re not looking after yourself. It’s a message we use a lot, but it’s so important.”