The Big Why

If they don't believe in what you believe in, they won't do it the way you want them to, if at all.

Recently I was asked what I thought of someone’s vision and mission statement on LinkedIn. It was perfectly serviceable but there was one easy way to turn it from fine to great, a quick fix that I’m sure could benefit many of you – give a reason WHY you do what you do!

Too simple?

But that is just the point.?This is the bit that we miss so often.?When I am working with leaders, so often I hear that it seems people don’t really get it and don’t see the importance of certain big issues.

And this it is why it is so important to make sure your team is filled with people who believe what you believe is right or is the right thing to do.?They have to buy-in to your whole being or at least the company sense of being.

And that is why we have to let people know what it is we stand for.

For a light-hearted example, they need to know if they you are a mint-choc chip ice cream person or a tutti-frutti??Because whichever it is, they will know if they believe in the same OR NOT.?But never just vanilla, never just not really bothered.?Because if they are all in for tutti-frutti then they may not be for you.?But if you and they are into min-choc-chip then you are standing in line together forever.?

Vanilla is neither here nor there, so it leads to apathy.

And I will ask, which are you??Because this is the sense of what you stand for.?i.e., your belief about what is right.

It starts with the Belief Statement

It all starts with this belief statement, the reason you want to do what you do, the core motivation for you and your business.

This can be anything but, as the name suggests, you have to believe in it! It has to be what drives you and it has to be authentic and honest.

If this is clear and tells people what you stand for then, not only does it help you build an ethos within your company, it also allows you to set and maintain clear goals because it will all fall into place underneath this belief.

And we have seen it before, how people will stand with you, even if the job is not so great, if they can belief in it and see how what they are doing helps.

And then follows the Vision

From your belief statement, whatever it may be, you can then easily derive a vision for your business. This is what you want from your business, where that belief is going to take you and what you are going to do with it.

Without a vision, it is almost impossible for anyone to buy into your ideas, be that customers or employees. This is why I am focusing on the ‘why’ today!

Once you have people believing in the ‘why’ they are way more likely to buy into the ‘what’, the actual functions of the business and everyone’s roles within it. Knowing ‘why’ is the best motivation a team can have!

My mind keeps coming back to my lovely Chocolate Labrador, Meg, asleep in my office, so let’s look into what I mean using her as the inspiration for my examples!

I’m sure (or at least I’d hope) we can all get behind the belief that all dogs deserve to be treated right??And if we were a dog rescue centre we would probably agree.

So, there we have our belief statement:

?????????“We believe that all dogs deserve to be treated right...”

Then we can build onto that our relevant vision:

?????????“…therefore, we will create the best dogs care centre in the world.”

This now gives our team something to grab onto and they will start to buy into this idea meaning they are more likely to want to get involved in caring for the dogs than if they just want the job for the money.

It’s starts to feel less like work and becomes more about positive impact.

Followed up with communicating with Impact

For you as a leader, if someone is not quite aligned with your ‘why’ then they are likely to not be bothered and to do an OK job rather than a great one.?

This is where communication is so important. ?Because knowing it yourself isn’t enough.

I’ve spoken about it countless times, but communication is the key to most things you will do as a manager. It is no different here, in fact it is perhaps even more important, as we are not just talking about small projects, we are talking about the whole motivation of the business.

So often people don't communicate the ‘why’ and therefore people don't commit to the ‘what’. This is where growing businesses fall down.

As you grow, you need more and more members of your team to step up as leaders.

If they are noncommittal and the ‘what’ becomes more of a ‘whatever’, the growth of your business can be stunted, even stopped!?But staying close the “why”, that belief is what makes us feel connected to the big picture.

The ‘why’ is what customers are drawn to as well. It means they align themselves with your vision and it helps them to feel validated or supported in their interactions with your business.

And not only that, if this is not being accurately portrayed or carried out within the business, clients or customers will stop coming to you and look elsewhere.

Every leader knows why they do what they do, but only the best leaders are able to translate that to the rest of their business. The ‘why’ turns employees into a team and a team works together for a company.

If your team are still asking you the big why question, let’s have a chat and see, well, why!

Email me at [email protected] and we can get them on the same page!

P.S. Whenever you are ready...here are 4 ways I can help you increase your impact as a leader:?

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1. Join The "Quiet Leaders Lab? Facebook Group and connect with other leaders who want to grow?

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It's our new Facebook community where those that are The Quiet Leaders can learn and share how to increase their impact, influence and outcomes -- Click here?

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2. Grab a free copy of my leadership impact report: The Team Performance Engine??

It’s the Road Map to your journey to increasing your impact as a leader -Click here?

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3. Join our Quiet Leaders Launchpad? Mastermind Group Programme?

? This Mastermind is a selected group of like-minded leaders, in an online community, focused on growing your results. With training, group coaching calls, guest speakers and more, supporting and challenging you to design and implement real team performance in your business.?

? Email me, [email protected],?with “IMPLEMENT” in the subject line and we can discuss how you can join us?

? 4. Work with me and my team privately?

? If you or your team just need a little more one to one attention to make change happen in your business... just reply to this message and put “PRIVATE” in the subject line... tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!?