People in your organization are searching for a sense of direction. Follow these three steps to determine your “why.”
It’s simpler to keep focused on the major problem you’re attempting to address in the early days of a firm or when you’re just starting out as a team lead. However, when you build and grow your firm and/or people, your viewpoints become more diversified and your challenges more complicated. As a leader, you have two options when it comes to setting the direction of your organization, regardless of its size: You have two choices: micromanage your staff (which I do not recommend) or help them understand your “why.”
In his well-known TED Talk, “Start with Why,” Simon Sinek explains that identifying your “why” is how you explain your purpose: why you exist and get out of bed every morning. People don’t buy what you do or how you do it; they buy why you do it, “he remarked. When you properly express your enthusiasm for the “why,” you may assist your team in prioritizing what is most essential and motivating them to execute on those goals.
Maifors Studio will have more than quadrupled in size by 2021. I felt it was more vital than ever to make sure our “why” permeated everything we did, particularly the decisions we were making. One of the wisest moves I made was to use our “why” to create alignment across the increasing staff. Here are some pointers on how to go about it:
To get to the bottom of a problem, start with the “five whys.”
When confronted with a critical business situation, I employ the “five whys” technique to get to the bottom of the problem. Begin with an issue and inquire as to why it is occurring. Make certain that your response is based on facts. It must be a description of what really happened, not speculation about what may have happened. Continue asking “why” until you find the fundamental cause of the problem and can create a countermeasure to prevent it from happening again. When it comes time to seek team buy-in on a significant topic, I find that this method really helps others intuitively comprehend the situation rather than simply accepting my opinion at face value.
Give one good argument.
Leaders want to make the best decisions for their organizations in order to drive development and establish trust among employees, but the options available may be daunting. Which new product should we include in our lineup? Do we need to spend more money on marketing? Reid Hoffman, cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn, recommends reducing difficult decisions by looking for a single compelling reason to opt for it.
Coming up with a long list of reasons to do something is typically a warning flag in my opinion. I’ve learnt that strategic decisions are about what not to do as much as what to do. And the more things you can avoid doing as a leader, the better. In fact, if you can’t come up with a single definitive reason or narrow down your objectives, it’s an indication that you need to take a step back and reconsider your goals in the first place.
Explain your “why.”
Identifying your decision-making style may be a tricky balancing act. It’s easy to tell your staff exactly what they need to accomplish and how they need to do it, and this might be tempting. Alternatively, you can seek universal consensus (understanding that no one will be satisfied).
Taking the middle ground, in my opinion, is the most effective strategy. Through communicating — and, in many cases, overcommunicating — why or why not a certain choice was made, teams feel more involved in the process. Again, when teams genuinely grasp the “why” behind a choice, they are more inclined to trust it and execute it without being micromanaged. Finally, accept that it is impossible to please everyone. Decisions that try to please everyone wind up being non-decisions by default, which are usually negative for your users and your business.
The sooner you can articulate your “why” and convince your team of its importance, the better. Everyone on your team will be more committed to their job and achieve greater outcomes if they believe in your mission and share your vision. Keep your company’s “why” in mind when you make decisions. This may not make them easier, but it will make them smarter. What business wouldn’t gain from that?
Maifors Studio | DX Done Right Podcast is founded by Jauhari Ismail.
