Why you need to repeat yourself

We have recently been spending a lot of time helping organisations and teams articulate a clear vision, values and purpose. As part of this process, we get to spend a lot of time talking to the leaders. We encourage them to think about what the future might look like, how they can get there and how they can get their teams to help them achieve those goals. Inevitably though, we also end up talking about the challenges they face in getting people to move toward their vision. Leaders are often frustrated and concerned with this part of running a business: they feel they give people a clear picture to aim at; they believe they give them a compelling purpose to rally behind; they believe that people truly buy-in. Then they turn around and realise they are the only ones moving. Almost like their followers are paralysed or in limbo.

So here is what I tell them.

Firstly, this experience is not an isolated one. It is actually a very human reaction to the transition toward the new or unknown. Secondly, you need to repeat yourself. You need to share the vision, the compelling reason for transition or change repeatedly.

And then, I tell them this story:

A while back we fell pregnant with our second baby. My husband and I realised we will probably need to move to a bigger home. We started speaking about why we think it is necessary and what exactly it is that we need. One of the things we said was that we want to move somewhere where we can be close to nature to afford our kids the opportunity to learn to love nature as much as we do. Another, more urgent, more practical element, we needed an additional room. See, I work from home, and it wasn’t really going to work having client engagements in the new kido’s nursery. So, we went on the hunt and found a home we believed to be a good fit.

We needed to make a few changes to make it work for us, but we planned to get it all done before our little bundle would be born. As life would have it, the renovations took longer than expected, as did the bond registration and transfer. There were a lot of frustrations. Our home was packed up into boxes. Our toddler had nowhere to entertain herself. I kept tripping over boxes and looking for things. I remember one evening, I was quite far along in my pregnancy, I turned to hubby and said: “maybe we should just stay here”. This house move is just too uncomfortable and stressful. He turned to me and said, “love, I know this is really hard but remember we are doing this for the kids and we really do need another room”. I had similar meltdowns a few more times and had a baby before we eventually could move in. And every time my husband’s response was the same. And every time I was able to reset and recommit to the vision.

You see with any transition we need to leave some things behind, usually things that we have grown quite comfortable with. We also realise that we are moving into unknown territory. And that is scary and hard sometimes. This is when we need our leaders to do what my husband did. We need them to remind us of why we are doing what we are doing and they need to recommit us to the vision we bought into in the first place. The why, the vision the compelling reason is what makes the really hard stuff worth it. Next time you expect your team, your family or your organisation to “move” toward something new, start with giving them a compelling reason to “move” with you. And then remind them of that reason as often as you can.

If you need help articulating your vision, values or purpose, or if you feel you could sharpen your leadership skills, talk to us. We would love to help.

A PS. from PJ – Shinell’s daughter turned one this week (she is an absolute delight) and their new house suits their family perfectly. So when things get uncomfortable, don’t turn back. Remind yourself of the vision and keep moving!

At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.