Leadership in Business Symptom #6: Confused: Not clear about purpose and mission

 

 

It was clear once, but now it’s just a blur.  You used to know what you stood for, you would have fought for it, but now you can’t remember why you are doing what you do.

That sense of confusion, of blurred vision, is extremely unproductive, it’s frustrating, and demotivating – but it happens to the best of us.

 

Just like knowing when it’s time to get your eyes checked, it’s important to know when it’s time to get clarity about your vision, your purpose, your mission in business. And that time when it’s all getting blurry and when you are losing focus.

 

It’s interesting, I find, that one of the first questions that children ask is ‘Why?’. As human beings, we have an innate need to understand the reason behind things, the purpose, the ‘why’. Depending on how that question was answered when you were a child will have an impact on how often and to whom you now ask that question today.

 

There are a number of great questions that you need to spend time pondering, sitting and answering in a journal, or taking a long walk and really thinking about. They include:

 

1.    What are you really good at?

2.    What do you love to do?

3.    What do other people say you are good at?

4.    What really gives you a buzz?

5.    What did you love to do when you were a child?

6.    What do you want to be remembered for?

7.    If money was not an issue, what would you spend your time doing?

8.    What do you believe God’s purpose is for you?

 

I believe we are all born for a purpose and we are given a mission – trusting that, being clear about what we can expect of ourselves, how that can meet our needs and what we need to promise ourselves and keep, is critical to gaining that clarity and clear vision for where we are heading.

 

But remember that we may not always understand, it may not always be clear how something will work out, and that’s where trust kicks in at a whole new level!

 

Leadership in Business Symptom #5: Unmotivated: Lacking a sense of achievement

 

It really does suck – when you are busting a gut and you just seem to be going around in circles. When you look at your ‘to do’ list at the end of the day and there are more things on it than when you started the day!

 

When the alarm goes off you hit the snooze button, and then lay there trying to think of the most valid reason to not go to work today – except you are the Leader! You’re supposed to be the one motivating everyone else. You know people are watching you, but you are conflicted. Do you ‘fake it’ and walk in with a smile and pretend it’s all OK? Or do you reveal all, and risk scaring your people?

 

Often what happens is we get out of alignment with the goals and purpose of the organisation. We either forget why we joined in the first place, or something has changed – with them, or with you, or maybe both.

 

Sitting down and really reflecting on what this organisation is all about, what its purpose is, what it is trying to achieve, and then determining if you share that common purpose is the first step to finding the solution to your motivation, or lack of!

As leaders, when we share a common goal, a common purpose with the organisation we are leading, then we can determine the following:

 

1.    What are their Expectations of me that help them achieve that?

 

2.    What are my Expectations of them that help me achieve that?

 

3.    What do they Need from me that helps them achieve that?

 

4.    What do I Need from them that helps me achieve that?

 

5.    What do they need to Promise me to bring it all together?

 

6.    What do I need to Promise them to bring it all together?

 

It’s all about ENPs® - Understanding what we Expect and Need from each other, and what we can Promise each other to make it all work. This is the dynamics of trust. If it doesn’t stack up, if you simply can’t Promise to meet their Expectations and Needs of you, then frankly, you are in the wrong place. But when this is aligned, when you can build trust on a common ground, then your sense of motivation and achievement will flourish.

Leadership in business – Symptom #4 – Frustration: I’m leading but no-one is following!

‘If you think you’re leading but no-one is following, then you are only talking a walk’. Afghan Proverb

 

 

One of the great things about leaders is that they are prepared to step out, to ‘go where no-one has gone before’. The more entrepreneurial they are, the more that applies.

 

The problem with that is that they can forget they are meant to be leading others, not taking off on their own.

 

The bigger the idea, strategy, plan, product or service, the more help leaders need to get it up and running, and to sustain it. If you are a leader with a BIG vision, you cannot do it on your own. You need a team of great people around you, who believe in you, who trust you, and who you need to nurture and build trust with so that they perform at their peak, do their best, and help make your vision a reality.

 

That feeling of running for the vision, that BIG goal, slogging your guts out, and there you are, exhausted but you can see the finish line up ahead and you turn for a moment, only to realize that you are running the race all by yourself. ‘Where did the team go?’, you wonder. At what point did you even lose them? You get frustrated because you thought you were all in this together, but guess what? They got tired. They really like you, but they no longer trust you or the vision, because you’ve forgotten to take them on the journey with you. I know, I’ve been there, and more than once!

 

This is a massive challenge for visionaries, and one that is worth sitting for a moment and considering.

 

The thing is, whilst you might actually be able to get that thing across the line, now it is totally up to you to keep it going. You are on your own. You can’t stop. You can’t take a break. That holiday you were planning – forget it. You realize that you have locked yourself into the very thing that you thought would bring you freedom.

 

However, if you can take others on the journey with you, you might take that little bit more time, or even a lot more time, it might not look exactly how you thought it was going to look, but what you get is the amazing satisfaction of watching your team celebrate together as you all cross that line.

 

You need to find out what they expect from you as a leader, what they need from you, and you need to promise them those things that are most important to them that will keep them there, 100% committed to the end goal, and trusting you and the journey.