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Enjoy this excerpt from our new book, Healthy Leadership.
As a leader, it’s powerful to involve your team to help define or refine the purpose. And you can bet, if your team is part of the process, they will be more engaged and committed. Work with them to answer these questions:
Why do we exist as a team? Since people tend to respond with what they do—their function—rather than why they do it, keep asking why, why, why? This will help reveal the core purpose of their work.
How does our team’s purpose make you feel? If you hear responses like “proud,” “important,” “connected,” “helpful,” or “like a winner,” then you’re on the right track. If not, then ask, “What is missing?” or “What is a purpose that would make you feel excited?”
Does our purpose make you look at your job differently? What can you change or do differently to better support our purpose?
Discussions about these questions will help your team work more purposefully. Today’s worker is more focused on purpose than ever, so engage them to find meaning in their work and in your team.
