Organisations thrive on vision and purpose if individuals and teams are strongly aligned to them. Recently I was thinking about how we know the power of communication using our eyes and that our eyes give us vision. I then pondered why more organisations don’t do more to ensure individuals and teams are truly aligned to vision and purpose.
An often-quoted example of the power of alignment of all staff is the (hopefully true) story about JFK and the NASA Janitor. Kennedy’s mission, announced in 1961, ‘to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth,’ led to leaders, teams and many remarkable individuals working together to fulfil the destiny JFK had mapped out. Kennedy gave the people of the US, in particular those in NASA, a vision of the future.
The story goes that when JFK was visiting NASA in 1962, he approached a janitor who was carrying a broom and asked what the man was doing. The man replied, ‘Well, Mr President, I’m helping put a man on the moon.’
Put simply, purpose inspires us. It motivates us to overcome obstacles, to work together to fulfil a common goal. Here are some aphorisms adopted by organisations in order to articulate their purpose and inspire others:
General Electric — ‘Building a world that works.’
Samsung — ‘Together for tomorrow.’
Nestlé — ‘Good food, Good life.’
Fiat — ‘Driven by passion.’
Nike — ‘Just do it.’
National Australia Bank (NAB) — ‘More than money.’
Billabong — ‘Life’s better in boardshorts.’
Canva — ‘Design anything. Publish anywhere.’
Vegemite — ‘Tastes like Australia.’
Plenty of organisations have strong and clear statements of purpose, which does not mean all the teams in the organisation enjoy the same clarity. To gain all the benefit of a great vision, you need to communicate it very well. And, as per a recent blog I wrote, communication is the hardest thing for a leader to do well.
As a C-Suite leader you will need to communicate it so well that each team clearly understands how their role contributes to purpose. That is, they are clear on their purpose. It does not stop there, of course. They also need clearly defined performance expectations and a clearly articulated strategy for how they will achieve their goals.
For a Risk leader, you need to be very clear with your team on how they contribute to purpose by helping others deal with the uncertainty of achieving their objectives. And you may need to call out a lack of alignment to purpose for some teams, as a business risk, in some areas of the business.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.