Does Your Team Suffer From Squirrel-Brain? Why Connecting Your Team to a Purpose is Critical
One study found that the #1 biggest factor in terms of the success of a team was whether or not the team had a clear sense of direction and purpose. But as you’ll see in this video, that isn’t always the case – many teams suffer from a massive case of squirrel brain!
Working Together on Purpose
Video Transcript
I have a very simple, but really important question to ask you: “How many of your team members understand what the primary purpose of your team is? How many of them can articulate clearly what your central overarching purpose is?”
The reason I ask is because, several years ago, I came across a study that suggested that, on average, seven out of every 10 team members don’t understand the purpose of their team. Seven out of 10 team members!
Now I live in the spectacular Canadian Rockies where I have wolves living right on my doorstep. Wolves, especially in the wintertime, have to work as a team. They hunt as a pack to be able to prey
on large animals. But imagine if 10 wolves are working strategically, running down a large moose and seven out of 10 of those wolves, all of a sudden go, “Squirrel!”
That’s what it’s like on your team if people don’t have clarity. If employees aren’t clear on what your purpose is, you are going to have massive team squirrel brain. And how do you expect people to work effectively? How do you expect people to be engaged and totally involved and connected and have a sense of belonging and a sense of ownership if they don’t understand the purpose of your team?
Or if they don’t understand what your top priorities are?
A survey in Inc. Magazine a few years back of over 600 CEOs asked them this question, “What percentage of your employees do you think understand what your top business priorities are?” These CEOs, on average, answered about two thirds, roughly 67%, would clearly be able to articulate what our top priorities are. Well, then they surveyed the employees – turns out only 2 or 3% understood what the top priorities were. Ouch.
So, it’s a simple but important question. Do your team members have clarity around your goals, around your priorities and especially around what your purpose is? Are you communicating that relentlessly? Do your team members understand how their jobs connect to that overarching purpose on your team? Are you communicating it relentlessly? Are you celebrating it relentlessly?
Let me know in the comments, what do you do to connect people to a sense of purpose on your team? What do you do to communicate a sense of purpose to your team members? And if you haven’t done so already, please hit the subscribe button. Join our growing community here as we talk about inspiring workplaces that rock.
Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame business speaker, creator of the online Culture Leadership Academy, and the author of 8 books including The Humor Advantage and The Jerk-Free Workplace
