Why define your why? Defining your why is an important aspect of leadership, but why is it so important?
Why your why is important
It may sound a little too philosophical to get into why is your why so important, but I see it as worthy of laying out here. I think there is the obvious answer and the less obvious. The obvious answer is knowing why you are in business, why you want to succeed, and why you want to do the things you want to do to help guide you to do the right thing for the right reasons. It helps to give a solid foundation point that you can reference back to, as directions of heading down path A or path B need to be decided. Leading a team in a specific direction tends to go better when it is collectively understood why.
The less obvious reason… life and work can get messy. Things go wrong, projects fall apart, people let us down. Also, there are shiny new ideas and temptations around every corner. Understanding and defining your why gives you a fighting chance to readjust and find the path you should be on. Your why is the north star, your compass, your resource to be able to reference to know if you are on or off your desired path.
Committing to your why
The strength of this tool depends on the depth of your definition and commitment to your why. The less depth and thought put into your why, the less likely the commitment will be strong enough to stay the course. Likewise, if the understanding and commitment to your why is extremely strong, finding your way back to the path becomes so much clearer. Keep in mind, I specifically said clearer – not easier. It isn’t always an easy path, but knowing it is a large portion of the battle.
Join me next time for PART TWO – What is your personal why?
