Common purpose, individual goals and diversity
Common purpose, individual goals and diversity
Did you know that even if a team has one common goal each team member pursues that goal in their own unique way?
This is for a very simple reason, each of us perceives and experiences reality differently in our own unique way. However, we have been taught that for the common good we must sacrifice and even renounce our uniqueness, and perhaps at some stage of evolution this was necessary or necessary. Now it is not, and it completely fails us and prevents us from evolving. Both at the individual and collective (group, team, cultural, etc.) level, because when we renounce our own uniqueness, we lose the diversity of the group. Group diversity is a key element in development and evolution. When there is diversity, then everything fits together. The same is true in nature, and there is a reason why biodiversity is another such important topic. And it relates to exactly the same aspect, illustrating it perfectly. If we have a tropical forest with millions of species of plants, animals and insects and also bacteria and all kinds of other creatures, then this ecosystem naturally develops. Some one insect will pollinate some flower that will produce a fruit, then that fruit will be eaten by some animal and not infrequently that very animal becomes food for another animal. When we cut down such a forest and, for example, plant only coconut palms, we thereby kill the entire ecosystem that lived thanks to this biodiversity. Not to mention the natural healing resources that we as humans use or could use.
When we have a common goal to achieve, instead of cutting down the ecosystem and thus trying strenuously to make everyone behave and act the same way (be a coconut palm), it is worthwhile to create such conditions for the ecosystem, such a tropical forest, so that all kinds of species can flourish in it, serving the common goal, which forms naturally, as it were. For what is the purpose of a tropical forest? First of all, it is the lungs of our planet and the habitat of more than half of all plant and animal species known to us. Development and life.
Translating this into human language, a unique individual perspective, combined with unique internal values, is the compass that guides each person, consciously or not, but always guides. It is our internal motivator, an imperative. Just as every plant knows how it should grow and what it needs, so a person also knows deep inside himself what he wants and needs. This is also what coaching is about.
When we create goals in business, it is important that team members identify with the goals. They can only identify with them when they take an active part in formulating them and when they feel that they want to achieve them. When goals are imposed only top-down, and if they are set very high, this is very often the way to lack of commitment and only superficial realization of the goal. There is no intrinsic motivation. And this one is always the most important. It can only occur when there is an internal connection, an inner desire to achieve the goal, arising from a natural need, potential and value-based enthusiasm.
So here are some questions for you:
– What goal is your team pursuing?
– Do all participants know what goal they are pursuing and how will you know it?
– Are the individual goals of the participants aligned with the goal of the whole team, and how will you determine this?
– What kind of ecosystem does your team create?
Have a good day,
Marta
#leadership #coaching #mentoring #swiadomosc #consciousleadership