Teams That Team - Power of Purpose
Over the past decade, I’ve studied what separates floundering from flourishing teams. The findings are clear. Most teams flounder because of three common and persistent causes:
It doesn’t feel safe to speak up. People hold back their truth, avoid conflict, and side-step engaging in challenging conversations.
There’s no culture of learning. Feedback is not sought, mistakes are hidden, and asking for help, is rare.
Meetings waste time and energy. Research shows in floundering teams, over 40% of meetings are considered unproductive and inefficient.
In the next five newsletters, I’ll share the real shifts teams, I’ve had the privilege to coach, have made to become more collaborative, courageous, and high performing. I hope this will help you to see what’s possible for your team
The Power of Purpose
The most transformative shift teams made was declaring a unifying team purpose.
As John Kotter said, “It’s the purpose that creates the team—not the team that creates the purpose.”
When a team lacks a shared purpose, it drifts. Team members default to personal agendas. Misalignment spreads. Silos grow. Trust erodes. But when a team defines its reason for being; its ‘why’, much changes.
Purpose brings focus. It guides decisions. It shapes how the team shows up and holds itself accountable. It unlocks the power of “we.”
And for executive teams, this shift is critical. They set the tone - culturally, strategically, energetically. When executive team aren’t aligned to a shared unifying purpose, they typically show up and act as a group of individuals, working in isolation, and competing with one another for voice, value, and vanity.
Purpose-driven leadership isn’t about slogans. It’s about strategic clarity and cultural alignment. It’s the foundation for flourishing.
INVITATION
To clarify the team’s purpose, invite team members to reflect on and share:
Why do we exist as a team? (Beyond what we do to why we do it)
What unique value do we create?
What difference do we make to those we serve?
What cause greater than us are we here to advance?
When executive teams align around their true purpose, they stop merely functioning and start flourishing.
May you flourish.