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You have discovered the WHY of your organization, and you know your HOWs and WHATs to do.
Next, how can you make or keep your employees or team inspired for your WHY?
This blog has eight actionable ways for you to help inspire your team or employees to take those actions that align with the organization’s WHY.
1)Present the WHY to the organization
Usually, a WHY statement is found during a discover your WHY session for organizations. During this session, a group of people who are a representative cross-section of an organization is present.
After this step, you want to present the WHY of an organization to everybody who works there. You can do this during a town hall session or an in-company event. Make sure to write about it as a follow-up in a newsletter to all employees or team members. The key here is to present the WHY in a personal and actionable way so everyone can relate to it and get inspired by it. Motivation is just a short-term emotion and will only last until a certain goal is achieved. Inspiration, on the other hand, is more durable, infinite, according to Simon Sinek.
2) Be a conscious leader
If you’re a leader, walk the talk. Start by creating a habit of asking yourself every day:
‘What did I do as a leader that was a tangible manifestation of our WHY.’
If you want the WHY to be alive within your organization, you will have to be committed to it first.
3) Provide context
When new strategies need to be implemented or tasks need to be assigned, ensure everyone knows how those tasks and implementations are expressions of the WHY. Make short and easy descriptions of what it might look like in practice. An example might be:
We connect in significant ways: We see others, we care about them, and we build together.
Take attention to the fact that everything is positive and actionable, show what people can do, and give them the freedom and the responsibility to do so.
You can also have discussions of opportunities to scale the power of WHY. These discussions will continue to inspire team members to find actions in line with the WHY of an organization.
4) Reward WHY behavior
When you see people showing behavior or performing actions that align with the WHY, reward this. You can do this by praising them and acknowledging them. Your team members will then feel heard and seen. They will feel that they matter and are cared about. It will inspire them to continue doing the things in line with what you want to see.
5) Use a WHY filter
Whenever you or your team needs to decide, let this go through a simple WHY filter. Ask:
‘Does this choice help us move closer to living in alignment with our WHY or not?’
If it does, go for it. If not, let it go.
6)Present your WHY to the world
Your actions and how you present yourself to the outside world (your clients, prospects, suppliers, fans, or future employees) should reflect your WHY. So make sure to include it and how it is an expression of your WHY in:
- newsletters to clients and followers of your organization
- press releases
- advertising
- proposals
- sales pitches
- presentations
- job opportunities and when hiring people
The goal here is that you reach people who feel emotionally connected to your cause, your WHY. It will be easier to work with them, and you will be able to inspire each other, which is more fun too.
7) Keep the WHY alive
To keep the WHY alive, you need to put your WHY at the center of everything. You talk about it all day, you live it, and you commit to it. You are constantly taking actions that are in alignment with what you say. Otherwise, a WHY can fade away to the background and be forgotten. Your organization becomes like any organization with standard KPIs, targets, or goals. This can cause lower productivity, less passion, more stress, and people start to feel disconnected from your organization.
Here are five other ways to bring your [personal] WHY to life.
8) Help others find their WHY
The actions mentioned above will inspire people to do things in line with their WHY. Then it is more powerful if their personal WHY fits the WHY of your organization. The benefit is that the right people are working in your organization. If not, you can prepare them to transition to another line of work.
What you can do is help everyone to find their own personal WHY. Allow your team members to discover their unique contribution and its impact on the world and how this fits within the organization’s WHY.
We can facilitate these discovery sessions for you. Contact us today for more information and a FREE introduction.
How do you inspire your employees for your WHY, your cause, or your purpose? Let me know in the comment field below. The other readers of this article and I am looking forward to reading from you!
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Source: Simon Sinek, “Find your WHY”
