Why

In our most recent episode of our podcast, The Unlock: Humanity at Work, we spoke with Ben & Jerry's former CEO, Matthew McCarthy , about the power of asking why.?

In the first of two conversations, Matthew shares a lesson he learned as he progressed up the ladder over the course of 25 years at Unilever.?

The lesson was simple but profound: Rather than asking what, he started to ask why. We have seen this transformation of 'what to why' in our work with clients and companies as well.?

Take for example an organization that was struggling to retain it's high potential female leaders. The Board, CEO and CHRO recognize that there was an issue, simply looking at the 'what' - the turnover dashboards they ran regularly revealed a disproportionately higher incidence of turnover for younger, higher potential female talent. It prompted questions that demanded answers, such as "What do we need to do to retain women in the pipeline?" and "What are these women seeking that they aren't finding here?" and "What is prompting their decision to leave?"

While these questions were important to respond to and necessary to understand, our work with the client pushed the Board and CEO one level deeper: "Why does it matter to you?"

The conversation shifted. Whereas there was full alignment on the what (it is easier to observe, track and measure), the responses to why this was an issue worth addressing varied deeply. And, as Matthew points out, it is the 'why' that drives us to act with courage and conviction.?

When we don't ask why about our own beliefs and opinions, we miss a chance to understand who we are, and what keeps us going.?

For the Board member, her reason for engaging in the discussion was two fold. As a member of the Talent committee, she had a governance lens on the health of talent in the pipeline. Her experience suggested that losing early career females with potential will result in a long-term succession problem. Her second reason was far more personal and exposed a vulnerability that fueled her passion: She saw herself in their experiences, and wanted to ensure that what they were facing was different from her own career story.?

This why - when shared openly and honestly- reveals so much about the reactions that people have in the moments that matter. She recalled experiences where she was shut out of conversations, passed up for promotions without feedback about why, talked to in a condescending tone that was tolerated by others. She recalls leaving company after company until she found a company - and a leader - who saw her for what she was capable of and helped her to unlock her fullest potential. She felt passionately about ensuring that these types of leaders and culture existed at the company she now served as a Board member, which is what prompted the 'what' questions.?

When we ask the peripheral questions and accept the answers at face value, we miss a chance to learn something about ourselves and each other. Ask the next question.?

In this case, the CEO and CHRO had their own reasons for caring about the topic. The degree of intensity behind the why varied; for the CEO it was a pragmatic "my Board cares about this" issue. For the CHRO it was more practical "we keep having to hire new talent and it is stretching our team thin." Totally different responses to the why question.?

By asking the next question, we learned more. For the CEO, he cared about his legacy, and being known as the type of leader who cultivated talent deep in the organization and ensured that people were having formative career experiences under his leadership. He wanted to make sure that whatever was the cause of the exits was addressed. For the CHRO, he felt passionately about retaining talent in general given the resource constrained environment that he existed in. He also recognized that female executives who were leaving often left a trail of turnover in their wake. They hired leaders worth following, and when those leaders left, so too did other high potential talent around them.?

These leaders saw the same what, but until prompted, did not truly understand why this issue was important to them personally. Without this understanding, we don't see the differences in values, importance, and relevance that may exist when we are problem solving together. And then we wonder why some people we work with want to invest everything they have to solve something, while others are more reticent. It is usually a lack of "why" alignment.

As human beings, our why is the very force that sustains us. We must ask why of each other, and then listen with curiosity (not judgment) to the answer.?

Last week, I attended Coqual 's Annual Summit where some of the top thinkers and leaders in the DEIB space come together to talk about the most pressing and critical issues of our time. As a think tank and convener of diverse minds and perspectives, Coqual did an exceptional job creating a forum to ask why questions to reveal the underlying issues that people are experiencing and facing at work today. Particularly on a topic as sensitive as DEIB nowadays, asking "why" of one another may reveal something that enables alignment and progress. And even more importantly, if we start with the human-center - ourselves - we should ask ourselves why we are as passionate, opinionated, focused, or fixated on the topics that we are working on today. The answer may reveal something about yourself that others may benefit from knowing about you. Have the courage to share it.?

If we can help you or your organization ask the "why" questions to learn more about your company, culture or leaders, let us know. [email protected].?