Does Your Team “Long for the Endless Immensity of the Sea?"
You know that micro-managing your team is not the way to go. You want them to be self-managed, autonomous, and motivated. But sometimes, things don’t work out as planned. Your team may lack direction, cohesion, or enthusiasm. Why is that?
There could be many reasons, but one of the most common ones is this: your team doesn’t have a clear and compelling vision.
A vision is not just a goal or a plan. It’s a story that captures the essence of what you want to achieve, why it matters, and how it will make a difference. A vision is what makes your team care about their work, and what makes them strive for excellence.
One of my favorite quotes on this topic comes from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the famous French writer of “The Little Prince.”
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
This quote illustrates the power of a vision. It shows how a seemingly mundane task, like building a ship, can become a meaningful and exciting adventure, if you connect it to a higher purpose, like exploring the sea.
A vision is not something you impose on your team. It’s something you co-create with them, based on their passions, values, and aspirations. A vision is not something you write on a wall and forget. It’s something you communicate regularly, through words, actions, and symbols. A vision is not something you achieve and move on. It’s something you revisit and renew, as you face new challenges and opportunities.
I believe that all work is noble, and all teams can find value and engagement in their work. But it takes a leader to help them see the bigger picture, and to inspire them with a vision.
So, let me ask you this: What is your team working on? What is the vision behind it? How do you share it with your team? How do you keep it alive and relevant?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please feel free to reply to this message, or leave a comment on my blog.
Learning & Development Senior Leader | Customized Programs, Resourceful Collaboration, Culture Creator
9 个月Great article Joe! Makes me think back on my last team and review their vision. If you can't help them see their vision more clearly, surely they will end up capsized!
Controller at BigR.io, LLC / Owner Walkerway, full service bookkeeping
9 年Sorry, I forgot to add before my last sentence, "I agree with you ..."
Controller at BigR.io, LLC / Owner Walkerway, full service bookkeeping
9 年Joe, I have to say one sentence really jumped out at me: But all work is noble. Regardless of the paid work, ultimately it puts food on the table and a roof over our heads or the ability to fund efforts you believe in. But that's looking at it from a personal level. To truly bring a team together, they need a true vision of what their work can accomplish and a desire to see it happen.
Culture Crafter | Speaker | Enterprise Agile | CPO @ Guidewire
9 年I agree Joe...vision is critical. The challenge with many leaders today is that often its not that the vision doesn't exist...its that they do not know how to articulate it. Great leaders can not only articulate it but can inspire people to see the power of their contribution. As we evolve our organizations towards more of a "management 3.0" mindset, leaders often feel conflicted between what they may consider an "overly articulated vision" - being fearful of coming off as "command and control" (God forbid) so they hold back, becoming ambiguous or mysterious. The result is vision interpretation which we all know leads to even more command and control to course correct. What teams strive for is context, clarity of vision and expected outcome AND the empowerment (Accountability+Resources+Information+Authority) to execute on that vision..in other words...everything in between. Concluding with the acknowledgement that their contribution helped pave the way towards a successful outcome. Now that's engagement!