Finding Enjoyment Through Purpose

Listening to Norma Dove-Edwin as the latest guest on The Show Up! Podcast , she reminded me of a recent experience where I’ve led a group to come together and ‘team to perform’ fast.

Norma emphasises the importance of finding enjoyment in one’s profession and focusing on purpose.

As a leader, this might seem easier said than done…so why don’t we make it easy so it can be done.

The first thing to acknowledge and appreciate is that there are two purposes at play here whenever a group teams up – Individual and Collective purpose. The origins of both come from the impact and contribution each wants to make, however there’s an extra factor that must be considered when looking at Collective purpose which we’ll come onto in a second.

So, let’s start with two simple questions:

- What is the impact you enjoy making in the world?

- What is the contribution you hope to make?

When answered on an Individual level, these can form the basis of your Why…the statement that gets you out of bed in the morning, empowers you to make your Why a reality day after day, and ultimately when reflected upon gives you some good, fulfilled vibes.

Make the space as a leader to do this as a group, and people will start to hear and feel the similarities and differences between their Why’s, and you’ve uncovered the inner narratives that will power this team forwards to perform. The experience should also bring people closer together (especially if you build the momentum daily from what you’ve learnt).

Here's where the Collective purpose comes in – replace ‘you’ with ‘we’ in those two questions and you’ll have created a moment for the team to congregate around something they are all invested in.

It’s important to focus on this step, because this is where you observe what people are willing (or not willing) to compromise Individually for the Collective purpose. You as the leader should be alert to where this compromise could cause problems down the line and addressing them to find comprise that is heartfeltly agreed to early can prevent this snowball of an issue from forming.

The next set of questions can really help set the tone for growth and fun in how the team work together. Have a read and notice your reactions:

- What do you feel you can wholeheartedly bring to this team?

- ⁠What does 'Be my Best Self' mean to me?

- ⁠What do you want our definition of success to be?

- What's one thing you'd like to get better at through our time together?

Did you find yourself answering them, or at least considering at a more meaningful level what your answer might be?

When asked in the team setting, against a backdrop of authenticity and positive-held judgements towards what others say, a team starts to find what’s really going to bond them, drive them, hold them back and give rise to what someone can support another with.

Just imagine knowing what your teammate is looking to get better at, and factoring for that in the opportunities to collaborate that come up in work. Powerful stuff.

The final simple piece of this leadership puzzle (how to make a group a team fast if you’ve forgotten) is to consider what fun looks like for this team.

No-one likes forced fun, so let’s start by not forcing fun onto a group. Notice what they laugh about, be curious about their personal interests (if they’re happy to share), what brings a giggle to the day.

Then look to how your leadership gives permission for that fun to occur. Everyone looks up in work. They are always conscious of how their leader perceives them, often because they do not want to be received negatively by their leader. So be conscious about the boundaries (more on this in a soon-to-be-released episode) you set for the team, and the spoken and unspoken rules of the playground that emerge as this team comes together.

And as I know you like the shortened version, here’s the key takeaways for you to consider implementing:

- Create space to uncover a teams’ Individual and Collective purpose.

- Ask the questions to discover what is likely to drive your team forwards and hold them back.

- Pay attention to where you limit and promote fun that resonates on the teams’ terms.

Graham

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