The WHY Connection – Unlock Your Leadership Superpower
Sonya Shelton
CEO, Executive Leadership Consulting | Red Thread Leadership? | Building Passionate Team Culture | Bestselling Author
In the dynamic world of business, an inspirational and effective leader is the guide and mentor on the journey to success. But what truly defines a great leader? How can you elevate your leadership skills?
The key lies in understanding and connecting with your superpower — your “WHY.” This means identifying what motivates you and drives your actions.
Leading a successful organization requires more than just holding an executive title. It demands a profound comprehension of your WHY and HOW to manifest it, ultimately unleashing WHAT people can depend on you for. Simply put, connecting with the superpower of your WHY can transform you into a better leader.
What’s the Power of Your WHY?
Knowing how to harness the power of your WHY is crucial for becoming an exceptional leader. To embark on this journey, here are the essential steps:
1. Discover What Drives You
Investing time to understand what drives you and motivates your actions is pivotal in becoming a better leader. This understanding can inspire your team and foster a sense of purpose for everyone involved.
This step also involves introspection — understanding your drivers, challenges, values, and purpose. Once you have a clear understanding of yourself, you can leverage that knowledge to lead others more effectively.
2. Explore HOW You Bring Your WHY to Life
Once you’ve identified your WHY, the next step is to explore HOW to bring it to life. Your HOW defines the direction you’re heading. As a leader, it’s also about how you internally process information.
This involves understanding how you execute your leadership role, which can impact how your team functions. What route do you take to deliver value on the journey to success?
3. Unleash WHAT People Can Count on You For
Once you have your WHY and HOW, it’s time to put them into action. Your WHAT represents what others can rely on you for — the value you bring.
Your WHAT is your deliverable — the tangible outcomes you bring to the table and to the world. While your WHY and HOW are internal, your WHAT is the external manifestation of those principles. What do people receive from you?
The Three Tiers of Your Superpower
Not many realize that there are three distinct tiers of connecting to your WHY. In our Red Thread Leadership? model, we delve deep into all three of these tiers:
Personal WHY
Every individual has a personal WHY that guides their journey. This foundational tier provides the confidence to lead authentically, serving as a source of inspiration and resilience through challenges.
Team WHY
The second tier builds on the personal WHYs of each team member. When individuals connect to their personal WHY, they can collectively discover their team’s WHY — what makes them unique and powerful together.
Company WHY
The third layer is the organizational WHY. It involves creating and communicating a shared mission and values that define your organization’s purpose and guides your collective actions and decisions.
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5 Reasons to Connect with Your WHY
There is a growing movement towards connecting with your WHY or your purpose, and here’s why it matters:
Prevent Burnout and Work-Related Stress
SHRM’s Employee Mental Health in 2024 Research Series found that 44 percent of U.S. employees feel burned out at work, 45 percent feel “emotionally drained” from their work, and 51 percent feel “used up” at the end of the workday.
Connecting with your WHY can alleviate stress by finding fulfillment in work by using your superpower, which enhances job satisfaction, motivation, and engagement.
Increase Team Effectiveness & Productivity
?When a team aligns with a common WHY, collaboration improves, leading to better results in less time. This shared purpose boosts communication, morale, and productivity.
Achieve Your Goals
Having a strong WHY and connecting with it brings focus and purpose to what you do, which can help you achieve your goals faster. Plus, with a unique purpose and driver, you can not only achieve your goals but leave a lasting impression.?
How to Connect with the Superpower of Your WHY
As Simon Sinek, author of the book “Start With Why,” wisely noted, “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.”
Your WHY is the starting point for leadership success. It fuels your HOW, then leads to your WHAT. We identify them through a tool called the WHY.os, then put them together in a process we call the WHY Connection.
Partnering with a master executive coach can be invaluable in this process, providing the structure and guidance needed to unleash your superpower. They can help you:
It Takes Just One Hour to Connect Your Personal WHY
Becoming a better leader requires connecting to your personal WHY and learning how to breathe life into it.
The best part is you don’t have to do it alone. With the support of a master executive coach, you can start this transformative journey in less than 10 minutes. Unlocking your superpower is the first step to becoming the leader your team can count on.
Ready to get started? Just type “WHY” in the comments, and we’ll send you a link to start unlocking your superpower.
Begin your journey today and discover your driver, direction, and deliverable for success. By unlocking your superpower, you can lead with inspiration, drive results, and create a truly engaged organization.
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4 个月Sonya Shelton this is so important!! Using your WHY as a superpower is the way to change the world.
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4 个月Understanding your WHY not only helps align your team but also drives success. I look forward to reading your article and learning more about becoming an inspirational leader.
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4 个月Great article!
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4 个月Sonya, great article. I too, am big on your WHY. I have an exercise I take my clients on to discover just that. It turns out that some of my clients, and even myself, didn't like what they found out about their motivations. That begins some real discussions. Coach Glenn
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4 个月Love this, Sonya. You articulate the benefits of finding your WHY so clearly. Would love to learn more about how you help team's and company's figure out their WHY.