WHY is Your Cause

"Share successful strategies you have used or seen used to advocate for your cause."

This was the question of the week in one of my favorite LinkedIn groups. The group is comprised mostly of professionals working for local non-profits and foundations, so cause is especially meaningful, but not more important than it is for any for-profit business.  How do you engage others in your cause?

123RF Stock Photo

I am reminded of the board of directors for a quite successful non-profit with whom I worked recently. They had a well-crafted strategic plan, including a vision and mission that was serving them well, even though they called me in to review it - to help them "bring it back to life". When I asked the simple question, "Why do you exist?", they were stunned.

Uninspiring
I find that most people, and most organizations, have a pretty firm grasp of "What?" they do, and even "How?" they do it. Far too few know "Why?" they do. They fail to grasp, let alone articulate their purpose, their reason for existence; indeed, their CAUSE. As I work with individuals, teams and organizations, this reversal of interests is quite common, even epidemic.

Too often we try to sell people on our cause without even engaging them in that cause; we start with our answer to the questions, in this order, "What do I/we do?", then "How do I/we do it?", then -- maybe, if ever we get to it -- "Why?".

This explains why some people, teams and organizations are able to inspire and others are not. OK, so that's my "don't".

Why do we exist?
Here's my "do": Set aside that nagging question of "What do I (or we) want to be when I (we) grow up?" Instead, ask "Why do I want what I want? Why do I exist? What is my purpose? Why do I want to get out of bed in the morning? What ideal or ideal that may seem just beyond my grasp drives me to action? How will my life, and the world I live in, be different because I have the courage to take action on the thing that is most important to me now?"

Get me to listen and understand your CAUSE as you describe it in this way, and I'll be interested in what you do and how you do it. Most importantly, I will know whether I want to support you or even engage in your cause with my discretionary behavior, time and money. Don't get it backwards - most do.

That's why my promise - my CAUSE - is that I will help people understand and articulate their purpose as readily as they do their name, address and telephone number. Or as I typically put my CAUSE: "I help people with dreams become leaders with vision who add value through their relationships."

SPREAD THE WORD TO END THE WORD
I have another CAUSE, while I'm at it. I am the father of three sons: the two oldest boys are hockey players; the youngest one is a gold medal equestrian in Special Olympics.  I hate to see any of them hurt, and some words hurt as deeply as other words can lift people up. So why not just lift people up? Please take a few minutes more (less than three!) to watch this important message.

 

Four Questions Every Team Must Address

There are four key questions a team must address and continually review, iteratively and in sequence, to improve the ability to work together effectively, to be more innovative, and to improve performance. These questions expose key problems and point toward effective solutions.

1. Goals - Is the team focused on the same shared mission? 
2. Roles - What roles does the team need to be successful? (Also: How and by whom 
will each role be fulfilled? Do team members have mutual accountability and 
understanding of one another’s roles?) 
3. Rules - Is everyone playing by the same set of rules? This includes written rules 
(policy, procedure, regulatory issues, written core values), processes, as well as operating 
values and group norms. 
4. Relationships - How are relationships competitive and collaborative? Teams that 
operate with a clear, shared mission, where each member or unit knows its role, and everyone is “playing by the same set of rules” will still have conflict. However, conflict will be collaborate and innovative in form and outcome, a d be based on “right versus right” arguments. This is compared to “right versus wrong” conflict, which tends to produce dysfunctional relationships and inhibit team performance. 

As a result of this model, creating a team culture where independent thinking and creativity, the combined emotional intelligence of team members leads to group consensus, innovation and mutual respect. Strategic thinking, planning and execution become part of the daily management practice of all team members. Team members no longer have the time or interest to “pick on each other’s personalities” - they are simply focused on the work that needs to be done.

However, relationships among team members cannot be ignored and there are certain activities and interventions that do make worthwhile improvements to relationships - positively effecting trust, communication, leadership, cooperation, respect and effectively leveraging the collective genius of team talents. These activities* can and should be addressed and practiced in tandem with strategic thinking, planning and execution.

*see more in my comments to this article.