Chapter 3 – “Why?”

The greatest mistake a man can make is to be afraid of making one.

— Elbert Hubbard

People will follow you virtually anywhere if they understand why. Christopher Columbus did not have hostages on his journey into unknown seas to discover the New World. He had volunteers.

As leaders, we often have access to information others have not yet had time to digest. We may have even been involved in the debate at a senior or board level over the potential solutions to a problem the business is facing. We have had the time to figure out what the situation means and why a strategy or change process needs to be implemented.

Often, our frontline teams get little or none of this information. They just get some leader standing in front of them waving his or her arms around and professing what way we are going! In a military organization, that may work since soldiers are groomed to follow orders (even if they don’t make sense). In business, however, frontline people need to and want to know WHY? They want to know not only what we are going to do, and how we are going to do it, but also, why we need to do it. They want to know what it means to them personally.

John F. Kennedy gave an amazing speech to Congress in May of 1961. He captivated the imaginations of the entire nation by detailing the vision of sending a man to the moon by the end of that decade and returning him safely to earth again. At that time, the U.S. was losing the Space Race to the Russians. Americans had absolutely no idea how they were going to send a man to the moon, but President Kennedy was telling the world they were going to accomplish the feat in less than nine years.

The vision of going to the moon, however, wasn’t the important thing. The Soviet Union had the same vision. What motivated and inspired the nation was the why.

The why for President Kennedy was that he feared losing the Cold War to the Soviets. He needed the nation to get back its competitive advantage, which had made the U.S. the reigning superpower. That meant the U.S. needed to return to being the top country in the world in terms of intellectual capital. In the years just prior to Kennedy’s speech, a decline in enrollments in higher education—particularly, higher technical and engineering education—had happened in the United States. Kennedy believed that racing the Soviets to the moon would encourage Americans to go back into higher education and preserve the U.S.’s position as a leader and an economic superpower.

For the American people, Kennedy positioned the “why” by placing it within the competitive race over a rival superpower that threatened Americans’ way of life through the Cold War threat of nuclear destruction. Winning the race to the moon was about not sitting around in fear wondering what would happen if some leader lost his mind and pushed “the button.” It was about proving to the world that Americans were not going to be beaten. It worked. The whole nation rallied behind the vision. Everyone wanted to be part of it. Kennedy knew the American people had a will to win, and he used that will to get the intellectual capital of the nation going. Enrollment in higher level technical education skyrocketed.

In answering why, remember that different stakeholder groups (leaders and employees for example) can have different and very personal why’s for doing something. As a leader, it is critical to figure that out and use it as the motivator in clear and compelling communications. Typically, all employees want to be part of something that matters. They want to know that their efforts and intellectual contributions are worthy and recognized. They want work that is purposeful. When you are able to achieve that, you will have reached the pinnacle of success with a team by engaging its members’ hearts and minds.

I succeed in winning over teams in business by involving everyone in the early stages of strategy development and asking their opinions on how we are going to achieve the desired outcomes of the business as set for us by shareholders. I also get team members to complete this simple phrase: “I believe….”

By using this process, Apple came up with its purpose which continues today: “think differently.” That simple two-word statement drives everything done at Apple from product development to marketing. It is a key reason why Apple currently holds the dominant position in the world as an innovator. Every Apple employee thrives on being part of a company that thinks differently, and now millions of customers around the world want to be part of it too. So simple. At the end of the day, Apple is just a computer company like any other, but the difference is in its purpose and its focus on that purpose.

Similarly, Disney imbeds its purpose of “Bring Joy” in all team members, starting right at the recruiting, assessment, hiring, onboarding, and development of every employee. This simple “why” is rooted in every “cast member” at Disney and is best exemplified by the fact that a piece of trash is never on the ground at a Disney theme park for longer than seven seconds. Cast members do not care whose job it is. If they see trash, they pick it up. It is all part of “Bringing Joy.”

When your team members understand “why” you are leading them in a direction toward a yet to be seen destination, they will follow you with all their hearts.

“Why” is just as important a piece for creating happy employees as vision and strategy. It brings purpose. And purpose drives customer satisfaction, and ultimately, a profitable enterprise.

Why do you have the career aspirations you have?

Why do you live where you do?

Why do you drive the car you do?

Why do you have the personal relationships you have?

Robert Murray is a Vancouver, BC based Business Strategy Consultant, #1 Best Selling Author, and International Keynote Speaker. For further advice, insight and inspiration on how to unlock your inner leader, follow Robert on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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