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Motivation Through Mission
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By Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden |
On September 12, 1962 in one of the best speeches ever made, President
John F. Kennedy committed the nation to a path of manned space
exploration that would take us to the moon. It launched a hope, a
dream, a view of the future as bold and bright as the moon he committed
not just an agency, but an entire nation to reach.
Fully engaged by the challenge, NASA’s 36,000 employees, together with
376,700 federal contractors, including some of the world’s preeminent
physicists, metallurgists, medical specialists, and engineers did the
best work of their lives over the next seven years. All Americans held
their collective breath on July 24, 1969, as astronauts Neil Armstrong,
Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and the Apollo 11 spacecraft returned
safely to Earth. Mission accomplished.
Though we still venture into space, the results since then have been
far less compelling. Ask ten people what NASA’s mission is, and it’s
unlikely you’ll discover the reason. You will be met by blank, deer-in
the-headlights expressions, and random guesses, even from elected
representatives who fund the agency.
And here’s why: People don’t perform in an inspired manner without big time commitment to a compelling cause.
Think about it … every major achievement in the history of mankind has
been accompanied by real commitment to a common purpose. Otherwise,
Christopher Columbus and crew would likely have held out for better
maps before they sailed off the edge of the known universe. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and his supporters probably wouldn’t have marched into
Selma, and Astronaut Alan Shepard might have suggested sending more
monkeys up before strapping his rear end to a relatively untested
rocket. Well, the same goes in the business world.
In a recent leadership seminar, participants were asked to describe
their organization’s mission or core purpose. The result? Those same
“deer-in-the-headlights” looks and wild guesses. When the members of
the assembled senior management team were asked individually to write
down the organization’s three top priorities, the answers revealed
incredible disparity. To wit, it is no wonder that many organizations
struggle mightily to gain traction. Here are some thoughts that will
help management create employee motivation through a common mission:
1. Make it Clear
Legend has it that shortly after signing on as head coach of the Green
Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi whistled practice to a halt one day,
assembled his players – who had grown way too accustomed to losing –
and got real instructive about the organization’s core purpose. Picking
up one of the practice balls, he began with the statement, “Gentlemen,
this is a football.”
Investment guru, Peter Lynch, in his book, “Beating the Street” advises
investors not to put their money into anything they can’t explain with
a crayon. He reasons that if you can’t explain it with such a simple
instrument, then you don’t understand it. Lynch’s advice is as good for
the manager as it is the investor. If a manager can’t explain with that
very same crayon what the organization is all about and where it’s
going, then the employees can’t explain it, and people won’t buy it...
continue...
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