The importance of destination
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men and women to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
- Antoine de Saint Exupery -
This message is applicable not only to those who are leaders but to all people who need to exert a bit more discipline on their own minds.
If you are a leader with a team to manage, how do you manage them? You have KPIs to stick to and you implement actions to reach the desired level agreed upon the beginning of each year. More general goals are broken down into general tasks which are further divided into smaller steps. And so the story goes, and everybody stays safe on the beach.
There are times, however, when you dream of sailing into the wide sea to gain even more fish and broader territories. But everybody is too busy with their daily tasks to start building a ship. When you give an order to build it, because you can, works will start.
However, I can assure you, as long as they are building the ship because they were ordered to, so their goal is to fulfill the order, their motivation will never grow sky-high. If you show them the final destination (why), advantages that it will bring (what’s in it for me), and after that organize a brainstorming session to create a plan to reach the destination (ownership), you’ll see the difference.
Why, What’s in it for me, and Ownership are the three wise men from a motivation land.
You can manage your brains in the same way. Whenever you feel stuck or procrastinating, ask yourself why you need to take action and move on. What’s waiting for you on the other side. You need to paint a clear vision of how reaching the goal will improve your current situation. The reward needs to be worth leaving your comfort zone. Remember — to state that once is not enough. You need to bring this vision to your brains every day. When you have a clear vision of where you’re heading constantly on your mind, served fresh on a daily basis, your brains will follow it, and sooner or later find a way to get it. They take ownership of the vision because they feel intrinsic motivation stemming from excitement.
With love, clarity, and purpose
-AG-
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