As a coach, I am a professional question asker. One of my favorites to ask clients is: What do you want to be known for?

It's a daunting question. It feels BIG and important and complicated to find the answer.

But what I've discovered through over a decade of coaching people through navigating their careers is that it's not so much about finding the answer as it is about holding the question.

We are living in a time when careers aren't just work—they are an opportunity for self-expression.

We want more from our jobs than a steady paycheck and stability; we're looking for meaning, an opportunity to make a difference.

This might sound like the type of statement that would make the higher ups start rolling their eyes and lament about those darn high-maintenance millennials. But I believe that it's not just a millennial trait. Our larger American work culture is changing, and the age of purpose is a part of that shift...

I'm thinking this week about David Whyte's Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, which I read years ago but continues to stay with me as one of my favorite books about career paths. Whyte is a poet who applies poetry to corporate life; he's even sometimes known as the Corporate Poet (you guys, there's truly a job out there for each of us). 

In his book, he examines the meaning of Rainer Maria Rilke's poem, The Swan, translated by Robert Bly, as it applies to our work identities. Swans lumber awkwardly on land, but as soon as they lower themselves into the water, they become an image of grace and belonging.