Dr. Alise Cortez is affectionately referred to as “The Anti-Undertaker” as she catalyzes the often otherwise “walking dead” to discover and grow their passion, inspiration, and purpose in life and at work. She is a Chief Purpose Officer, Management Consultant, Inspirational Speaker, Author, Radio Host, and Social Scientist based in Dallas, Texas. Having developed her expertise within the Human Capital / Organizational Excellence industry over the last 20 years, today she is focused on enabling organizations to lead from purpose and create cultures of meaning that inspire impassioned performance, meaningful engagement, and fulfillment, while encouraging a devoted stay within the organization. For individuals, she also facilitates an online Catch Fire global community and various retreats to enable people hungry for a more meaningful and purposeful life to discover and create it for themselves. 

What does being grateful mean to you?

Being grateful, to me, has two parts. The first is registering the sentiment or feeling of being grateful. As a practicing logotherapist, I embrace Viktor Frankl’s notion that meaning is human kind’s ultimate motivating force. We have access to discovering meaning in three principal ways: our creations or what we give of ourselves (I call this passion), the encounters or relationships we enjoy (I call this inspiration), and the attitudinal stance we take when confronting what life serves us (I call this mindset). Gratitude can be situated as a way to discover meaning from those encounters and relationships – in whatever form that takes, be it love, support, lesson, or inspiration. And we have an infinite capacity to develop the ability to register profound levels of gratitude and thus enjoy tremendous energy-infusing meaning as a glorious side effect. Because it’s so vital for well-being, I help people to develop the ability to register gratitude as a source of meaning in the Vitally Inspired program I run for companies and through the coaching I do with professionals and executives.

The second part of being grateful is to express that gratitude. To give it. Make it a creation of yours. And when you give gratitude to someone else, you are essentially giving something of yourself to another – you’re giving your passion. And thus, you are discovering or accessing another source of life-affirming meaning. And that is why it feels so good when you express gratitude (as you so beautifully share about writing your mother the letter you did before she passed). The expression of gratitude registers for us as it does when we are creating something we love or are passionate about. It is actually an expression of love, which has an expansive quality to it and helps us understand why both the giver of gratitude and recipient feels “bigger.”

Right now, at this moment what are 3 things you are grateful for?

My health in this coronavirus pandemic
My beautiful soul of a daughter, Gabi, age 17
My friend Michael

Please tell us about your radio show, “Working on Purpose,” how it came about and what your mission statement is? Also, could you recommend an episode that you think would resonate with our audience, so I can link it here?

It was November 2014 and I had just published my post-doctorate research describing 15 “Modes of Engagement,” the distinct ways people experience meaning in work in relation to their identity. I was driving home from having presented this research in the form of a program for a client, which was well received. I felt elated, grateful that I was this person living this life, when my cell phone rang. It was VoiceAmerica calling to invite me to host my own radio show on their platform. I could hardly believe my good fortune and was dazzled by how the universe seemed to be knitting together a perfectly splendid existence, just for me. When I launched the program in February 2015, I wanted to feature stories of people who loved their work – who were passionate about what they did for a living. And that’s what the show featured for about two years. Then, I moved on to bring on people who could inspire us to be more, want more, and do more in life. Purpose came next as a focal point. And now for the last year or so my program is a thought leadership engine that enlightens and inspires listeners with insights from elite business leaders and novel subject matter experts. Together, we’re working on purpose to steward the future of work and business to elevate us all.
Here is a recent episode about joy that I think links beautifully to gratitude: https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/123426/joyely-a-love-affair-of-human-hearts

How does gratitude play into being a great leader?

By actively looking for what’s good, right, and special in each person who is generous enough to follow us AND expressing gratitude for who they are and how they contribute to the team – this is how gratitude plays into being a great leader. A great leader “sees” into the heart of every person she leads and helps them discover and further cultivate their own greatness, and in so doing shows gratitude for the magnificent being before her.

What is your gratitude story, or could you share a moment when it really clicked for you?

I think I’ve generally always been a thankful person, though I think it’s fair to say my gratitude story really begins December 2015 when my husband of 16 years told me he was ready to leave the marriage. Why was I grateful? It wasn’t as though we’d had a terrible life together and he relieved me of that awfulness. No, that wasn’t it. In fact, the first several months of dealing with the separation and divorce matters were some of the most excruciating of my life. But what was setting into me was an ever-growing realization that I had been set free and given free reign to finally stop shirking from creating the life I ached for myself. I had known for a few years I was not living to my potential, that I was existing in what I call an “apathetically affluent” life – many creature comforts minus the meaningful fulfillment that comes with full-out pursuing your passion and purpose.

I went through a pretty intense 18-24 months of working hard on my own personal development and spiritual searching and starting my own life again. I bought a new home, took a job with another management consulting firm (after having worked for myself for 13 years prior), and worked furiously to create a new life for myself. And on the other side of all that pain, loss, and effort I emerged having discovered my purpose, which I now get to live today: I exist to awaken passion and purpose in people and inspire them to pursue them mightily to make a contribution worthy of their one, precious life. And I am back again for the last two years working for myself in service of that purpose. I consult with companies to discover and articulate their purpose, facilitate groups through my Vitally Inspired – Living and Leading from Purpose leadership program, speak at conferences and for groups on the subject, and continue hosting the Working on Purpose radio show. My book, “Purpose Unleashed: How Inspirational Leaders are Made, Ignite Passion, and Elevate Cause” is due out in late 2020. I started a non-profit called Purpose on Fire to help people who have discovered their purpose meaningfully launch it into the world. My purpose has been discovered and launched and I get to live it every day.

I am eternally grateful to my ex-husband for having the good sense to recognize it was time for us to go our separate ways and actually call the shot to make it happen. I have thanked him for this gracious act many times and explained I simply would not be living my purpose had he not set in motion the cascade of change and transformation that came with reinventing myself post-divorce.

Can you share with us some of the things you are excited about in 2020?

My book “Purpose Unleashed: How Inspirational Leaders are Made, Ignite Passion, and Elevate Cause” will be published before the end of the year! That’s one. Creating and launching an online format to complement the purpose discovery and leadership development work I’ve been delivering in person, that’s another.

What do you think are some of the roadblocks that stop people from being grateful?

Being self-absorbed and ruminating on one’s own world or concerns, which is a normal part of being human and certainly in the pandemic times we’re in today. The remedy is to actively reach out to help someone else or to take your attention to what’s good and right in the world and focus on that. Both move us to self-transcendence which makes registering gratitude much more accessible.

Being governed by a pessimistic attitude or feeling sorry for ourselves.

Being governed by the belief that things or life is not fair – that we’re due some other circumstance or life. Life does not owe us happiness, or anything – rather, it offers us meaning, as Viktor Frankl has often asserted.

In closing, what’s one lesson that you could share that could provide hope for people in this time of crisis and how could they use gratitude to bring that into focus?

Connect with Alise:

Tune in to her weekly WORKING ON PURPOSE podcast radio show on
VoiceAmerica Empowerment OR iHeart Radio  

Watch Now – Alise Cortez on Take Charge: Live with Passion, Work on Purpose!

– Alise Cortez speaking on Purpose-Inspired Leadership

Web:  www.alisecortez.com