Clarify your purposeful path through change with perspective, pursuits & practices

As leaders we are constantly crafting the path to success for our people. Amidst constant change, looming layoffs, turbulent markets and intense competition, having clarity is key. Where are we trying to get to, what should we be focusing on, how can we support each other? 

Whether your team is experiencing layoffs, navigating transformation, or persevering against limited resources and capacity, we must continue to provide clarity around these questions. 

Clarity provides stability, promotes a sense of calm, inspires confidence among individuals and team mates to perform at their best, even (or perhaps especially) in the toughest conditions.

In our work, we build everything on (and from) purpose. This is the foundation. At both the individual and team level, Purpose includes our passions– what we care about, believe in, are good at and enjoy. This encompasses our strengths which we can lean into and polish off with practice and acquiring new skills. It also includes our impact– the meaningful difference we want to make for me, we and the world.

How can we support ourselves being at our best? What can we do to support our team mates through turbulent times? What bigger impact can we stretch towards (like equity for example) that inspires behaviors that can ripple out through teams, cultures and communities to open opportunities for more people? These components of purpose if articulated clearly and authentically form the foundation upon which all change can be most effectively perceived, pursued and practiced.

So it is these 3Ps that drive the application of purpose and provide the clarity to navigate change. They work at both and individual and team level. For a team we are looking to facilitate a discussion on perspective, collectively plan our pursuits and then embed our practices daily.

1. Perspective

• Accept the past: in order to go-forward most effectively we need to be looking forward, not over our shoulder. Whatever causes us to get into our current situation, we cannot change. We can and should however, learn from it, then accept it and move on. 

• Acknowledge the present: all change has to build from the current reality- a place of truth. So what is our true reality now? Using a proven framework like SWOT can help provide a good snapshot.

• Articulate the future: fundamental to progressing through change is the engagement of both hearts and minds. We need to articulate a vision that inspires action, ignites excitement and encourages engagement. This pulls us forward. Further, the purpose underpinning that vision- why it matters and what difference it makes. That pushes us forward.

Facilitating conversations on perspective enables everyone to contribute, hear from each other and air concerns. It frames the future based upon the current SWOT which provides the foundation for the next step- pursuits.

2. Pursuits:

Pursuits are prioritized areas of focus that drive collaboration and define success. Considering a reasonable period of time during the current change cycle, I like to focus on a top 3- what are the top three pursuits that can deliver and outperform, that provide us the best leverage on our time and energy? These are essentially the performance objectives for our team. So what are the three things (for example: ‘one team’, ‘client first’, ‘cut the clutter’).

For each pursuit, you then specify 3 things: 

• Goal: Where are we trying to get to in the near term? What does success look like for this? A simple SMART goal will do, so that it is tangible, everyone is crystal clear what it means, can work towards it and know when they have achieved it together.

• Activities: what do we need to actually do, to achieve these goals. Map out the basic steps and then articulate clearly who is responsible for what. A simple action or project planning template can help document this visually (excel, trello, basecamp). Have everyone contribute and commit to timelines for their first few actions.

• Behaviors: this is a piece that often gets missed. The extent of time and energy you focus on this will be determined in part by how clear people are about the culture- to what extent the organizational values are truly embedded. If they are, this can simply be a refresher upon which some team-specific behaviors and best practices can be built and prioritized. If there’s less visibility or practical evidence of these behaviors, coming up with a top 5-7 for the team can be a valuable exercise. Not only does it help define how, when and why we are at our best, can support each other and hold each other accountable day-to-day, it also build cohesion, connection, camaraderie and commitment- the sense of team itself. Further it helps us appreciate how we can each contribute to each other and the collective pursuits. Which brings us to step 3- practice!

3. Practice:

As an athlete I used to love the opportunity we had to literally practice 2-3 times per week to optimize our performance when competing on the weekend. In business we don’t have that luxury- we’re constantly practicing and performing, always competing, needing to outperform to survive or even thrive. So, the 70/20/10 rule is worth hearing in mind as a simple framework to support on-the-job learning (70%) / peer-based learnings & experiences (20%) / formalized training & development (10%). Together with that as a framework, embedding 3 practices can help improve and sustain performance.

• Be Positive: with the goals in mind, celebrate and share progress and small wins along the way. This can be as simple as a verbal congratulations, shout outs in meetings, a thoughtful email. Encourage next steps. Positivity can help build motivation and momentum, which in turn can continue to fuel progress.

• Refresh: review, refine, improve. There will always be failures and mistakes- we just need to look at them objectively, understand why they happened, define what we need to do differently and follow through to improve. Facilitating conversations about this productively is about focusing on the goal and the process (what we actually did) not the person. Rather respecting the person & their intentions and having an open, honest, non threatening conversation about how we can do it better.

• Persevere: constant practice, change and the pressure of competition can hone focus but it can also be exhausting. Perseverance is our ability to continuously pursue excellence and doing that together is far more energizing that going it alone. To persevere, we keep focused on what matters most, we encourage and support each other, we have each others backs. We are open and honest about our failures, which we improvise together. With that level of commitment and trust, we can run through brick walls together. And while I hope we don’t have to actually run through brick walls every day, transferring that same energy to a clear path ahead enables us to accelerate forward and overcome more of the obstacles along the way.

In conclusion, whatever changes and challenges you and your people face as a leader, you can always ground them in purpose and then focus on the 3Ps to find the opportunities ahead: build direction with perspective; clarify priority pursuits to what matters most; and hone practices to improve progressively.

If you’d like to learn more about how to navigate change on purpose, please get in touch.