Last week we introduced Patrick Lencioni’s 6 Critical Questions for Clarity. Today we look at the first one, Why do we exist?
Like most other things, if a leader doesn’t provide clarity on why the organization exists, then employees and other stakeholder will draw their own conclusions and act according to their assumptions. In a cynical world, employees might assume the organization exists to provide them with a job and a paycheque. Customers and suppliers may believe the organization exists only to make money. Governments of course believe the organization exists to pay taxes.
Life isn’t usually so cynical, but without direction things can head that way. Therefore the best bet is to take the lead and bring clarity to why your organization exists. Simon Sinek and others have done a good job at explaining the value of Why and how it connects people on a deep, emotional level which brings strong connection. For a concise example, we can consider Disneyland’s Purpose as stated in 1960 “The purpose of Disneyland is to create happiness for others.” (www.Disneyinstitute.com). Simple, engaging and long lasting.
From the perspective of the 6 Critical Questions for Clarity, the Why connection is a grounding element to allow members of an organization to understand each other, and make some base assumptions about other’s intentions for being part of the organization. This alignment is a core component of a positive and trusting culture allows for much more open and effective communication.
When and how do you communicate your organization’s Why? The short answer is as often as you can. Considering this from an employee’s journey, the Why should be front and center during recruiting including advertising and interviewing; and then during onboarding. Town halls or staff meetings should include the Why as a standard element, and the Why should be used to rally the team for new initiatives, or when times are difficult. Equally as critical is to expose Board Members to the Why in the same way as employees. The Board is the visionary group so their alignment to Why is paramount.
Work the Why into stories to engage people on a more fundamental level, and use of visuals to portray the message allows for a continuous presence of the Why.
In summary, the Why brings common ground and clarity to an organization. From this solid platform an organization can work on the next 5 Critical Questions.
