How an unexpected ChatGPT prompt helped me reflect on my purpose
The Easter break, with its well earned leave and extended family childcare support, has given me the ability to carve out small moments to reflect. I’ve had many a moment the last week to zoom out and consider what I’m doing and why.
One moment of curiosity today led me somewhere I didn’t expect: into a conversation with ChatGPT that ended up capturing more about my values, leadership journey and future aspirations than I imagined.
A simple but ambitious prompt I stumbled across on LinkedIn (thank you anonymous poster - why can I never find inspiring posts again on LinkedIn after a Google-ChatGPT-rabbit hole?): “Act as a full publishing panel and help me discover and develop the nonfiction book I am uniquely positioned to write.
It felt like a creative experiment, something to test how well AI could reflect back who I am and what I care about. What it returned genuinely made me pause.
The book it imagined? Unstoppable by Design: How to Lead Transformational Change with Courage, Clarity and a Human Heart. By Julie Tague
This book is for leaders who never quite fit the mold and stopped trying. Unstoppable by Design is a guide for those driving meaningful change in complex systems, while juggling real life, real people, and real limitations. Blending bold storytelling with practical tools, Julie Tague reveals how embracing vulnerability, working with constraints, and designing with empathy can unlock innovation at scale. If you’ve ever been underestimated, overlooked or overwhelmed - and still found a way through - this book shows how to turn that resilience into a repeatable superpower.
Seeing that story unfold and the chapters it proposed, from personal losses and parenting challenges to leading change across government, revealed something to me about my core approach and values through thick and thin. It showed me values often live quietly in the margins of our work until we give them space to speak.
I’ve been thinking this evening about what I stand for, in between watching a bizarre 70s Netflix series about a psychotic robot in a smart home:
- * Empowering others through trust and autonomy, ensuring I’m given space myself to be empowered and work with autonomy
- * Creating spaces where value is recognised and celebrated
- * Fostering real connection in complex systems
- * Leading with respect for people, time and contribution
I’ve started to think more intentionally about the culture I’m helping shape both in my own team and the wider ecosystem I’m part of.
We need to be bold and brave in what we stand for, so I’ve shared these values with my team because they feel important. I’m really hoping they’ll share some back.
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