Allow me to share my professional mission, my north star, my raison d'etre:

Do justice to good work. #

This has been my work mantra since my career began.
It's simple, clear, yet drives my approach + decision making in all that I do.
I kept it mostly to myself in the early days; but over time, always shared it when asked to describe my thinking.

It explains why I first gravitated to open source software, & software teams.
It explains why I often straddle between worlds:

• being a builder and a hunter in sales / GTM roles
• being a designer and a developer in product engineering initiatives
• being a strategist and a hands-on actor with a business development mandate

Focusing on doing justice to good work pushes my output to multiple frontiers and drives me to create positive change that combines hard and soft skills; compelling me to listen, learn and adapt.

If you're interested, I'll dive deeper into the definitions I've used:

Good work: #

Effort or idea not easily done.
Of admirable quality, purpose, or intent

Do Justice: #

Recognize, elevate, celebrate, & accelerate.
Be a force-multiplier

My common interpretation: #

1. Identify under represented value,
2. Join or form a community gathered around it,
3. Push the endeavor further through direct contribution.

Celebrate the unsung heroes and give them the audience they deserve.
Contribute to worthy efforts and fill the gaps, inspiring others to better my work.

If you're thinking this is all very agreeable and high level, that's because it is.
What it's not is apathetic, complacent, or unwilling to grow.

From a more provocative point of view: this is an outright rejection of the lane-focused functions extolled by Radford and Comptryx career bands. In my experience, you have to contribute wider than your role, and my band has only been a blocker once.

What is your ethos ? #

I've found having a professional mantra drives my work ethic more than any specific area of appeal.
It gives me the clear-thinking motivation needed to see the opportunities I truly enjoy and pushes me to develop and grow.

I'd love to know what works for you?