Before my work with Leadercast, I had various leadership roles in the nonprofit world.
In the spring of 1997, at 25, I was the co-leader of a building renovation project. We were three days away from our scheduled grand opening. We had just failed a building inspection, and the inspector gave us a list of things to correct.
It was getting late, and volunteers were working hard to complete the list. My co-leader called everyone into the largest room in the building and asked, “Why are we doing this?”
I’ll be honest. I was annoyed. Check that. I was angry. Why was he wasting our time?
We had a punch list and a deadline. We didn’t need to sit around and discuss the why. We had a what, when, who, and how. We didn’t need a WHY.
I’ll be a little more honest. I was annoyed about that meeting for years. I thought it was a complete waste of time.
I was wrong!
Everyone needs the WHY.
Both Friedrich Nietzsche and Viktor Frankl are credited with saying, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
You know this is true.
At some point in your life, you have done something you didn’t think was possible because the WHY was so important to you.
I heard on a podcast this week that “only 20% of Americans find purpose in their work.”
Who’s fault is that?
The Leader.
Back in 1997, I was a crappy leader. I didn’t think people needed the why. They just needed to do it. My older, wiser leader knew that people needed to talk out the WHY.
He was right. I was wrong.
It reminds me of the story of the three bricklayers. Jim Baker retells the story this way:
“After the great fire of 1666 that leveled London, the world’s most famous architect, Christopher Wren, was commissioned to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral.
One day in 1671, Christopher Wren observed three bricklayers on a scaffold, one crouched, one half-standing and one standing tall, working very hard and fast.
Christopher Wren asked the first bricklayer, “What are you doing?” to which the bricklayer replied, “I’m a bricklayer. I’m working hard, laying bricks to feed my family.”
The second bricklayer responded, “I’m a builder. I’m building a wall.”
But the third bricklayer, the most productive of the three and the group’s future leader, when asked, “What are you doing?” replied with a gleam in his eye, “I’m a cathedral builder. I’m building a great cathedral for The Almighty.”
All three men were doing the same task. One understood the why.
So this week, don’t be Brian from 1997. Get your team together and have them discuss the question, “Why are we doing this?” and keep talking until you have something more significant to work for.
