Every organisation works towards the achievement of certain goals, & those goals are measured in terms of 2 variables – money & time.
As someone who is leading team(s), you convince people to join you on the basis of two things:
- “What” you’re aiming to do, &
- “Why”.
Each team member’s future with you and the organisation can be projected with the help of ‘what’ & ‘why’ graphs mapped simultaneously with money & time as the two dimensions.
At the time of joining, their ‘what’ & ‘why’ graphs start rising upwards in parallel. However, the problem arises when time passes by and as pressure mounts, where the overall focus of your team or organisation remains intact on the ‘what’, it is the ‘why’ where ‘the split’ happens.
One of the biggest challenges faced by organisations as they grow is that while they continue to make more money over time, people on the other hand start losing interest in the reason to work with them. When this begins to happen, money can only retain them for a short period of time and they eventually start leaving the company for other marginal income gains or perks slash ‘opportunities’ that come their way.
This is the point where ‘the split’ is surfaced and the two graphs of ‘what’ and ‘why’ start moving in different directions.
Quite often, it is the lack of leadership’s ability in making people believe in their “why” that results in:
- High employee turnover rate,
- Companies not being able to build an effective team culture, &
- Leaders being unable to build a tribe of people who are willing to step out of their comfort zones for the sake of company’s growth.
It is essentially the “management of the split” that differentiates between companies that are unique & perform extraordinary, & the ones that are not. It is the ability to manage and maintain the alignment between the what & why that distinguishes an effective leader from an ineffective leader.
Whether you are a team lead, manager or decision-maker in an organisation, high chances are that you'd want to retain your team(s) in the long-term. For that you must not let the split happen. This can be achieved by keeping your people engaged in the “why” even if it means to compromise on the “what” sometimes, because if people are sold on your why, they will bounce back.
But how can one build teams that stay committed for long?
Earning the ‘trust’ of your people.
A leader always earns the trust of people on the basis of his “why”, the strength of that why, & his ability to stand by it.
History proves that disruptors, change-makers, the ones who have altered the status quo, have had a very strong “why”. This is the core reason why their teams were loyal, were not driven by monetary perks, stayed with them for lifetime, and their team cultures strong & defined.
As someone who is leading a group of people and wants a lasting team, work on your why.
How you make your people believe in what you believe in, is where the real test of leadership lies.