Skip to main content
  • Foundation
  • Executive network
  • CEO Circle
  • SHRM Business
  • Linkage Logo
  • Store
  • Sign In
  • Account
    • My Account
    • Logout
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
SHRM
About
Book a Speaker
Join Today
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
  • Membership
  • Certification
    Certification

    Smiling asian student studying in library with laptop books doing online research for coursework, making notes for essay homework assignment, online education e-learning concept
    Get Certified!

    Be recognized as an HR leader with your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP credential.

    • How to Get Certified

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. No other HR certification compares.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Details and Fees
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me
      • Certification FAQs
    • Prepare for the Exam

      Give yourself the best chance to pass your SHRM certification exam.

      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      • Study Aids & Add-ons
    • Recertification

      Recertify your SHRM Credentials before your end date!

      • Specialty Credentials
      • Qualifications
      Certification Portal
  • Topics & Tools
    Topics & Tools

    Stay up to date with workplace news and leverage our vast library of resources to streamline day-to-day HR tasks.

    The white house in washington, dc.
    Executive Order Impact Zone

    Do not abandon, but evaluate and evolve. It is about legal, equal opportunity for all.

    • News & Trends

      Follow breaking news and emerging workplace trends.

      Legal & Compliance

      Stay informed on workplace legal updates and their impacts.

      From the Workplace

      Explore diverse perspectives from your peers on today's workplaces.

      Flagships

      Get curated collections of podcasts, videos, articles, and more produced by SHRM.

    • HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      SEE ALL
      SHRM Research
    • Tools & Samples

      Access member resources and tools to streamline HR tasks.

      • Forms & Checklists
      • How-To Guides
      • Interactive Tools
      • Job Descriptions
      • Policies
      • Toolkits
      SEE ALL
      Ask an Advisor
  • Events & Education
    Events & Education

    SHRM25 in San Diego, June 29 - July 2, 2025
    Join us for SHRM25 in San Diego

    Register for the World’s Largest HR Conference being held on June 29 - July 2, 2025

    • Events
      • SHRM25
      • The AI+HI Project 2025
      • INCLUSION 2025
      • Talent 2026
      • Linkage Institute 2025
      SEE ALL
      Webinars
    • Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance credibility among peers and employers.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

    • Team Training & Development

      Customized training programs unique to your organization’s needs.

  • Business Solutions
  • Advocacy
    Advocacy

    Make your voice heard on public policy issues impacting the workplace.

    Advocacy
    SHRM's President & CEO testifies to Congress on "The State of American Education"
    • Policy Areas
      • Workforce Development
      • Workplace Inclusion
      • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
      • Workplace Governance
      • Workplace Health Care
      • Workplace Immigration
      State Affairs

      SHRM advances policy solutions in state legislatures nationwide.

      Global Policy

      SHRM is the go-to for global HR leaders and businesses on workplace matters.

    • Advocacy Team (A-Team)

      SHRM’s A-Team is a key member benefit, giving you the tools, insights, and opportunities to shape workplace policy and drive real impact.

      Take Action

      Urge lawmakers to support policies that create lasting, positive change.

      Advocacy & Legislative Resources

      Access SHRM’s curated policy materials and content.

    • SHRM-Led Coalitions
      • Generation Cares
      • The Section 127 Coalition
      • Learn More & Partner with SHRM Government Affairs
  • Community
    Community

    Woman raising hand in group
    Find a SHRM Chapter

    Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

    • Chapters

      Find local connections from over 607 chapters and state councils and create your personalized HR network.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      SHRM Northern California

      Join SHRM members in the greater San Francisco Bay area for local events and networking.

    • Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      • Membership Advisory Council
      • Regional Councils
    • Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

      • Volunteer Leader Resource Center
Close
  • Membership
  • Certification
    back
    Certification
    Smiling asian student studying in library with laptop books doing online research for coursework, making notes for essay homework assignment, online education e-learning concept
    Get Certified!

    Be recognized as an HR leader with your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP credential.

    • How to Get Certified

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. No other HR certification compares.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Details and Fees
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me
      • Certification FAQs
    • Prepare for the Exam

      Give yourself the best chance to pass your SHRM certification exam.

      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      • Study Aids & Add-ons
    • Recertification

      Recertify your SHRM Credentials before your end date!

      • Specialty Credentials
      • Qualifications
      Certification Portal
  • Topics & Tools
    back
    Topics & Tools

    Stay up to date with workplace news and leverage our vast library of resources to streamline day-to-day HR tasks.

    The white house in washington, dc.
    Executive Order Impact Zone

    Do not abandon, but evaluate and evolve. It is about legal, equal opportunity for all.

    • News & Trends

      Follow breaking news and emerging workplace trends.

      Legal & Compliance

      Stay informed on workplace legal updates and their impacts.

      From the Workplace

      Explore diverse perspectives from your peers on today's workplaces.

      Flagships

      Get curated collections of podcasts, videos, articles, and more produced by SHRM.

    • HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      SEE ALL
      SHRM Research
    • Tools & Samples

      Access member resources and tools to streamline HR tasks.

      • Forms & Checklists
      • How-To Guides
      • Interactive Tools
      • Job Descriptions
      • Policies
      • Toolkits
      SEE ALL
      Ask an Advisor
  • Events & Education
    back
    Events & Education
    SHRM25 in San Diego, June 29 - July 2, 2025
    Join us for SHRM25 in San Diego

    Register for the World’s Largest HR Conference being held on June 29 - July 2, 2025

    • Events
      • SHRM25
      • The AI+HI Project 2025
      • INCLUSION 2025
      • Talent 2026
      • Linkage Institute 2025
      SEE ALL
      Webinars
    • Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance credibility among peers and employers.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

    • Team Training & Development

      Customized training programs unique to your organization’s needs.

  • Business Solutions
  • Advocacy
    back
    Advocacy

    Make your voice heard on public policy issues impacting the workplace.

    Advocacy
    SHRM's President & CEO testifies to Congress on "The State of American Education"
    • Policy Areas
      • Workforce Development
      • Workplace Inclusion
      • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
      • Workplace Governance
      • Workplace Health Care
      • Workplace Immigration
      State Affairs

      SHRM advances policy solutions in state legislatures nationwide.

      Global Policy

      SHRM is the go-to for global HR leaders and businesses on workplace matters.

    • Advocacy Team (A-Team)

      SHRM’s A-Team is a key member benefit, giving you the tools, insights, and opportunities to shape workplace policy and drive real impact.

      Take Action

      Urge lawmakers to support policies that create lasting, positive change.

      Advocacy & Legislative Resources

      Access SHRM’s curated policy materials and content.

    • SHRM-Led Coalitions
      • Generation Cares
      • The Section 127 Coalition
      • Learn More & Partner with SHRM Government Affairs
  • Community
    back
    Community
    Woman raising hand in group
    Find a SHRM Chapter

    Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

    • Chapters

      Find local connections from over 607 chapters and state councils and create your personalized HR network.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      SHRM Northern California

      Join SHRM members in the greater San Francisco Bay area for local events and networking.

    • Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      • Membership Advisory Council
      • Regional Councils
    • Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

      • Volunteer Leader Resource Center
Join Today
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
  • Store
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
  • About
  • Book a Speaker
  • Foundation
  • Executive network
  • CEO Circle
  • SHRM Business
  • Linkage Logo
SHRM
Sign In
  • Account
    • My Account
    • Logout
Close

  1. Topics & Tools
  2. Workplace News & Trends
  3. The Path to Purposeful Leadership | A Q&A with Author Mark Hannum
Share
  • Linked In
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.


Error message details.

Copy button
Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.


Learn More

The Path to Purposeful Leadership | A Q&A with Author Mark Hannum

December 8, 2023 | Emma Brooks







The world’s greatest leaders focus on three critical things: they are committed to accomplishing something that matters; they articulate a vision that others embrace; and they demonstrate a series of five commitments to themselves and their teams. 


Mark Hannum, Chief Research Officer at Linkage, knows what it means to be purposeful.  


As a leading Executive Coach, Consultant, Practitioner and Researcher in the leadership field, he has analyzed more than 30 years of leadership data and more than 100,000 leadership assessments. This work has culminated in Linkage’s most recent book, Become: The Five Commitments of Purposeful Leadership, available now for order at all major booksellers.   


I was curious to learn more about Mark, what inspired him to write this, how he got to where he is in his career, and a few other fun facts along the way. 


What inspired you to write Become: The Five Commitments of Purposeful Leadership? 


I think it was finding the answer to the age-old question, “How do I be a better leader?” When you find something that you believe can help a lot of people, you want to spread the word. And this has that kind of impact on me. Purposeful Leadership is a message that I think is valuable to leaders everywhere and it’s worth my time to get the message out there.  


Who inspires you as a leader? 


This almost too big of a question to answer! Frances Hesselbein immediately comes to mind. She took over a very troubled Girl Scout organization and built it into a powerhouse for young women. William J. O’Brien at Hanover Insurance was amazing to watch as he envisioned and grew a small property-casualty insurance company into a multi-billion dollar enterprise while simultaneously changing how we think about organizations. I’m also endlessly fascinated by musician-leaders, including orchestra and band leaders, who work with their musicians and change the face of music in their era. I’m inspired by leaders who considers what is happening in their world, internalize something unique and personal about it, and then shape their identity and actions to make something different happen.   


I understand your initial career aspirations were very different from where you landed. Can you tell us about them? 


I think there were my ambitions, and then my mother’s ambitions that landed on me at some point. I wanted to be an academic, a professor. I loved research and figuring out the history of a problem as much as I loved finding solutions to it. My mother wanted me to be a priest. I got something from both in a very slow-developing chemical reaction. As early as nine or ten years old, I can remember questioning the motives and values of people who I was told were leaders, but they seemed to not be interested in anything but their own self-interest. It was easy to contrast those individuals with the more selfless leaders who were all around me. When becoming either a priest or a college professor became more and more unlikely, I found places to work or roles to work in that got me experience in understanding leadership and organizations. Time and temperature controlled the chemical reaction from there.   


Can you give us a specific example of a time when you felt like a truly purposeful leader? 


There have been multiple times where I’ve felt purposeful as a leader. At Hanover Insurance, I led multiple initiatives that were part of how we as a company attained competitive advantage. I also led several efforts that made us a better organization overall. I’ve tried to work, quietly, as a leader and consultant on many of our accounts to change the way they achieve their mission and become a better organization at the same time. And finding a way to do the research, enlarge that research effort within Linkage, and ultimately conceptualize Purposeful Leadership has been an amazing opportunity to be a part of the greater Linkage community and create something meaningful.  


How important is self-awareness to becoming a purposeful leader? 


Self-awareness is critical, but not necessarily the way it gets advertised in blogs, articles, and workshops.  Every human being is capable of so many different things. Finding “the thing” that we want to do to make our own individual mark on the world is hard. It’s even harder to then go and do it! We have friends and relatives who don’t think we should, we have frivolous things that we can do with our time, and we have so many obligations—real obligations—that we need to meet along the way. It’s hard to find that inner voice that then compels us to work hard at something else and make a difference. So, while knowing your strengths, weaknesses, tendencies and preferences is important, I believe that knowing how you want your story to turn out—knowing how you want to shape the world, is a far more difficult and important component of self-awareness.     


Which of the five commitments of Purposeful Leadership (Inspire, Engage, Innovate, Achieve, and Become) do you find most leaders struggle with? 


Leaders struggle with all five of the commitments. Leaders who are very effective leaders integrate their ability to Inspire, Engage, Innovate, and Achieve with their Become. Become is the commitment that manifests how leadership behaviors come out of us. It is the integrator. Most leaders focus on the achieve commitment and struggle with being effective. We have a lot of numbers that tell us that the best leaders inspire and become as their best commitments and are simultaneously very inclusive—a quality of all five commitments. Become—that quality of self-awareness, courage, commitment of purpose, and respect for others—is a struggle for many.   


Which New England Sports team do you feel currently exhibits the best example of purposeful leadership? 


There is a lot of discomfort in trying to answer this question. First, regardless of standings or win-loss records, New England Sports teams all strive for excellence not just on the field, but in the community. Every single team is generous and supportive of the city of Boston and all surrounding areas. Each continually improves the experience for their fans. Each team sets high standards and works hard to achieve them. We don’t know how lucky we are to live in a part of the country with such talented teams, getting to experience their achievements on the field, court, and ice. Being a Boston sports fan becomes part of our identity. I can literally go anywhere in the world and see someone wearing the instantly recognizable ball cap with the Bosox B in our very own Bosox font, or the Flying Elvis of the Patriots, or the all too familiar leprechaun, or the hub representing Boston in the Bruins logo. They all are becoming great examples of Purposeful Leadership.   


If you could give your younger self one piece of advice on leadership, what would it be? 


I would tell my younger self to show up more fully. For decades I have struggled with being in my own head, not knowing what was happening around me or even right in front of me. This can be a great quality for an academic or a researcher, but not great for someone who is leading people. My advice to my younger self would be to be present in the room, in the conversation, in the activity, the event. We have these amazing brains that allow us to be in the past, the present, and the future whenever we want…I would dial up the present more and enjoy it. 


Do you have a favorite hobby that helps you decompress after a long day/week? 


I am a golfer, and it is amazing how that has shaped my perspective on leadership. It has taught me that you cannot be perfect, that when you are perfect bad shots can still happen, that bad shots are opportunities to excel, that who you play with is more important than your score, and that you never stop trying to get better.  


Looking for more about Purposeful Leadership? In Become: The Five Commitments of Purposeful Leadership (McGraw-Hill Education), Mark reveals the evidence-based secrets that surfaced from vast data Linkage has collected on leadership effectiveness. This critical leadership guide is designed to introduce leaders to the five commitments Purposeful Leaders make to themselves and their teams.  


We welcome you to download an excerpt from Become: The Five Commitments of Purposeful Leadership, and purchase your own copy on Amazon. 


 



 




 

Leadership & Navigation

Related Articles

Kelly Dobbs Bunting speaks onstage at SHRM24
(opens in a new tab)
News
Why AI+HI Is Essential to Compliance

HR must always include human intelligence and oversight of AI in decision-making in hiring and firing, a legal expert said at SHRM24. She added that HR can ensure compliance by meeting the strictest AI standards, which will be in Colorado’s upcoming AI law.

(opens in a new tab)
News
A 4-Day Workweek? AI-Fueled Efficiencies Could Make It Happen

The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.

(opens in a new tab)
News
How One Company Uses Digital Tools to Boost Employee Well-Being

Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.

HR Daily Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest HR news, trends, and expert advice each business day.

Success title

Success caption

Manage Subscriptions
  • About SHRM
  • Careers at SHRM
  • Press Room
  • Contact SHRM
  • Book a SHRM Executive Speaker
  • Advertise with Us
  • Partner with Us
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Post a Job
  • Find an HR Job
Follow Us
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • SHRM Newsletters
  • Ask An Advisor

© 2025 SHRM. All Rights Reserved

SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not offer legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a particular purpose. Disclaimer


  1. Privacy Policy

  2. Terms of Use

  3. Accessibility

Join SHRM for Exclusive Access to Member Content

SHRM Members enjoy unlimited access to articles and exclusive member resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Limit Reached

Get unlimited access to articles and member-exclusive resources.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join to access unlimited articles and member-only resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join the Executive Network and enjoy unlimited content.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join and enjoy unlimited access to SHRM Executive Network Content.

Already a member?
Unlock Your Career with SHRM Membership

Please enjoy this free resource! Join SHRM for unlimited access to exclusive articles and tools.

Already a member?

Your membership is almost expired! Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew now

Your membership has expired. Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew Now

Your Executive Network membership is nearing its expiration. Renew now to maintain access.

Renew Now

Your membership has expired. Renew your Executive Network benefits today.

Renew Now