Find Your Ikigai: A Practical Tool for Reflection & Performance

In today’s working world, many people find themselves successful on paper but quietly questioning whether their work still fits the life they want to lead.

Titles evolve. Responsibilities grow. Life outside work changes.

And yet the pace of corporate life rarely gives us the time or space to step back and ask a deeper question:

Does the work I’m doing still align with who I am and how I want to contribute?

One framework that I often introduce in coaching conversations is the Japanese concept of Ikigai, loosely translated as “a reason for being.”

At its core, Ikigai sits at the intersection of four elements:

What you love
What you’re good at
What the world needs
What you can be paid for

When these elements overlap, people often experience a greater sense of purpose, fulfilment, and sustainable motivation in their work.

However, Ikigai is not about finding a single perfect job or life answer.

It is about alignment, i.e. ensuring that your work, your strengths, and your sense of contribution evolve alongside your life.

And in my experience coaching leaders and teams, when individuals find this alignment, performance tends to follow.

If You Have 30 Minutes: A Simple Ikigai Reflection

Good news, you don’t need a retreat in the mountains to start thinking about Ikigai. Sometimes all it takes is 30 minutes of quiet intentional reflection.

If you were to sit down with a notebook and ask yourself three questions, I would start here:

1. When do I feel most energised at work?

Think about moments in your career where time seemed to pass quickly or where you felt fully engaged.

Ask yourself:

What type of work was I doing?
Who was I working with?
What strengths was I using?

Patterns often emerge that reveal the conditions where you do your best work.

2. What do people consistently value in me?

Many of our greatest strengths become invisible to us because they feel natural.

Consider:

What do colleagues come to me for?
What feedback have I heard repeatedly over my career?
Where do I seem to add the most value with the least effort?

This question helps surface the unique strengths you bring to the table.

3. What kind of contribution feels meaningful at this stage of life?

Our sense of purpose evolves over time.

Early in our careers we may seek challenge, progression, or recognition. Later, we might be driven by impact, flexibility, leadership, or the ability to support others.

Ask yourself:
What kind of difference do I want my work to make?
What matters most to me right now, not five years ago?
If I designed my work around the life I want, what might change?

This question anchors Ikigai in your current reality, not an outdated version of success.

Why Leaders Should Care About Ikigai

While Ikigai is often framed as a personal development tool, it has significant implications for leadership. The most effective leaders understand that performance is deeply human.

People perform best when they feel:

valued for their strengths
connected to meaningful work
clear about how they contribute

And yet many workplace conversations focus primarily on tasks and deliverables, rather than the deeper drivers of engagement.

This is where the principles behind Ikigai can enrich leadership conversations, particularly in one-to-one conversations.

Leaders might explore questions such as:

Which parts of your role currently energise you the most?
Where do you feel your strengths are being used well, and where could we unlock more of that?
What kind of work would you love to do more of over the next year?

These conversations help leaders move beyond performance management into true talent leadership.

And when leaders understand their people at this level, we know that engagement, retention, and performance often improve.

The Strategic Value for Organisations

In organisations today, particularly those experiencing growth, transformation, or restructuring, there is often a strong focus on structure, capability, and delivery.

But one of the most overlooked drivers of performance is alignment between individuals and the contribution they are making.

When people feel disconnected from their work, organisations often see:

reduced engagement
declining discretionary effort
higher turnover
slower innovation

Conversely, when individuals understand where their strengths, interests, and contribution intersect, they are far more likely to bring energy and commitment to their work.

This is why frameworks like Ikigai can be particularly valuable during moments of career transition, organisational change, or leadership development.

They provide a structured way to reconnect people with purpose, strengths, and contribution.

How We Use This Thinking at VB&A

At VB&A, we often bring purpose-driven frameworks like Ikigai into our coaching and leadership development work.

Not as a theoretical exercise, but as a way of helping people step back and reconnect with what truly drives their contribution.

This can be particularly powerful when working with:

leaders navigating career transitions
teams emerging from organisational restructure
organisations seeking to re-energise engagement and performance

Our belief is simple: When you get clear on the human side of performance, commercial performance follows.

When individuals understand where they add the most value, and leaders create environments where those strengths can thrive, organisations unlock far greater levels of contribution, creativity, and commitment.

Final Reflections

For individuals

Take time to reflect on the intersection between what you love, what you’re good at, and the contribution you want to make. Small moments of reflection can lead to powerful clarity about your next step.

For leaders

Use your one-to-ones as an opportunity to understand what truly motivates your people. The deeper your understanding, the more effectively you can unlock their potential.

For HR, Talent and Learning Leaders

Consider how purpose-driven frameworks like Ikigai can complement leadership development and talent strategies. When individuals feel aligned with their strengths and contribution, organisations benefit from higher engagement and more sustainable performance.

Ultimately, Ikigai reminds us of something simple but powerful: People perform best when their work feels meaningful.

And when organisations create the conditions for that alignment to exist, the results are often felt not only in individual fulfilment, but in organisational success.

Victoria Buckenham 2026