Author Wes Moore On Finding His Life’s Work


Wes Moore is a Rhodes scholar, combat veteran, and nonprofit executive. In his new book, The Work: My Search For a Life That Matters, Moore writes about how his widely varied life experiences helped shape who he is, and how the lessons he learned can help us find a sense of purpose.

Read the book's Introduction here, and an interview with Moore below.

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Wes Moore © Amun AnkhraYou’ve had a really varied life – the Rhodes Scholar program, combat in Afghanistan, working in the White House and in finance. Was there something that kept you grounded while you were moving between these very different experiences?

Part of it is that you come to realize you're not alone, nor is what you’re going through special. The details are different, but this is the same journey of discovery that countless others have had before, are going through now, and will have in future. There's actually a real comfort in that, that it’s not just you doing this. It helps you keep it all in perspective.

I got the chance to interview Harry Belafonte, and he said something that I thought was so powerful. I asked him why his work on social issues was so important to him. People often stay away from controversial topics. But he said that it makes life more fun: ‘Some celebrities wake up and call their accountants. I wake up and call Nelson Mandela. Who do you think has a more interesting life?’

We get just one shot at life, and we all want it to be interesting, to make a lasting contribution, where we can do something that lives long after we no longer are. What kept me grounded was recognizing that there’s a level of impermanence to life, which gives me a sense of urgency and fearlessness to my approach.

Why did you want to try and tell this story, in part, through the experiences other people had finding their work?

A big part of that was that these are some of the people that motivated me in my own search. The book is a very personal journey. It’s not a 10-step process that everybody should do; it’s an examination of my journey. My first book (The Other Wes Moore, about another man from a similar background whose life took a very different path) ended abruptly in the year 2000. People would ask, ‘So what happened next?’ When I tried to really think critically, what happened was a large and, in many ways, confusing search from what it means to live a life of use. The reason I wanted to intertwine my story is because those are some of the people that inspired me, that motivated me to find my own fuel

How did you meet John Gallina and Dale Beatty from Purple Heart Homes?

I had heard about John and Dale for a while. I first got a chance to meet them on a photo shoot for TIME Magazine. I got a chance to speak with them and I told them how big a fan of them and their work I am, and from there we became friends. When I started getting into the core of what they do and why they do it, and their obstacles and inspirations, I knew if I wanted to talk about these veterans issues that I’m passionate about that John and Dale had to be included in the book.

Watch Wes Moore’s TED talk, “How to Talk to Veterans About the War.”

One of the book’s major themes is service. Do you think service gets overlooked or its importance understated?

Not just that, it also gets misinterpreted. People look at it like, well, I’m doing something good for someone else or for some other population. What they don’t often understand is that service is personally fulfilling. I tell people that even if they don’t do service to be selfless; they can do it to be selfish. There are chemical reactions, moral and emotional reactions when you decide that life is bigger than simply yourself. Some of the greatest work experiences I’ve had in life were not necessarily in traditional work environments; they were in places of service. I was doing work that people would probably think of as service-focused, but in fact I’m the greatest beneficiary. We need to broaden our definitions and our expectations of service, that it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m either moving to Mozambique or I’m doing nothing.

     You write about feeling "imposter syndrome." Do you think that's something that a lot of us experience but don't necessarily admit?

I think it's unbelievably real and very difficult to deal with. And I think it shows itself in lot of different ways. There are the traditional thoughts, like you’re always afraid that someone will tap you on shoulder and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’ But there can also be a level of anxiety and fear around your next step in life. You may have things you're interested in and excited to do, but you’re always afraid of losing your spot.

Imposter syndrome has a way of not just showing itself and hindering you in the present, but when you’re looking at the future as well. In my work now, (with the nonprofit BridgeEdU) we do a lot of work with students trying to stress that there is not one single room that you ever don't belong in. We tell them that you’re not here because of someone’s benevolence or because you’re part of some social experiment. You're there because your voice needs to be heard.

Do you think imposter syndrome affected you more as a minority and because you come from an immigrant background?

Absolutely. But beyond that, some people might come from a familial environment where the things that you want to do, nobody in your family has even done before. There’s a fear of stepping into the unknown. There’s also the issue of people walking into a societal environment where the expectations of you are simply lowered. We have a lot of gaps in society, and I think the biggest one is the expectation gap. We expect different things from different people, oftentimes based on things they have zero control over, like where they were born, who they were born to, what they look like. It’s hard trying to navigate life with a sense of fearlessness when who you are is not celebrated by those around you.

You write a lot about the potential of America, and the people you met that give you hope that this country can become a better place with each successive generation. A lot of people are frustrated by social issues of the day – for example, the protests over the relationship between police and people of color. Do you still have that hope that America always continues to improve?

Anyone who thinks things are hopeless right now, they’re just not paying attention and not opening their eyes. We can all sit around in frustration and say that no one cares and that everything is getting worse. But there are people are out there every day doing the work. What keeps me motivated is that I wake up to people who inspire me. I get to work with them, and I go to bed with inspiration in my mind about what tomorrow can bring. There are things we need to address, absolutely. There are things I see every day that are frustrating. But instead of wallowing, we need to find the motivation to get involved. One of the great things about the world we live in is that you can see marked change if you're willing to be diligent and work towards it. Those are the things that keep me motivated. It’s impossible for me not to be inspired when I know there is work to be done.

Tell us about your current project, BridgeEdU.

It's a way of addressing challenges of college education and career placement by reinventing the freshman year. We know that for a lot of students, that’s the choke point. Nationally, 34 percent of students will not make it past freshman year. For some of them, it’s financial, and those barriers are real and need to be addressed. For some, it’s academic. They’re just not ready for college and need remedial education. But for the lion’s share, it's social. It’s about walking onto campus and not feeling welcome, particularly for students of color, lower income, and first-generation students. With BridgeEdU, we introduce a co-curriculum, coaching, and alternate academic structures like internships and service-learning opportunities. It’s a softer on-ramp into higher ed. Right now, we’re working in Maryland, but we’re looking to expand. We want these students to know that higher education is not just a place they need, but that these institutions are places where they belong.

What do you hope people take away from this book?

I want them to understand that this journey is hard, and it is an individual journey. This is not simple, the idea of finding our work, especially when you say that our “work” is where our personal passions and gifts and the world’s greatest needs start overlapping, and you choose to do something about it. Personally, it took a while to understand and discover that, but it makes us who we are and answers questions of why we’re here. When I told one of my mentors, Bill Brody, that I was going back into finance, he said, ‘I understand why you’re doing it, but as soon as you feel like it’s time to leave, then leave.’ Because when you stay one day longer than you should, you become extraordinarily ordinary. I want everyone to understand that we are inherently extraordinary. I had to learn that the hard way, but I went through the process and now I can share it.


Wes Moore is speaking at New Trier High School in Northfield at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

FAN- Family Action Network
New Trier High School, Northfield Campus- Cornog Auditorium
7 Happ Rd, Northfield, IL 60093

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

File Attachments: