By Tony Tran | Fast Company | January 11, 2022
In the early days of a company, or when just starting out as a team lead, it’s easier to stay focused on the main problem you’re trying to solve. But when you start to scale and grow your business and/or teams, perspectives become more diverse and problems become increasingly complex. No matter the size of your company, as a leader you have two choices as you set the direction: You can either micromanage your team (which I don’t recommend), or you can help them understand your “why.”
In the famous TED Talk, “Start with Why,” Simon Sinek points out that defining your “why” is how you explain your purpose: the reason you exist and get out of bed every morning. He said, “People don’t buy what you do or how you do it, they buy why you do it.” When you successfully communicate your passion behind the “why,” you can help your team prioritize what is most important and motivate them to execute against those priorities.
In 2021, Lumanu more than doubled in size. I knew it was more important than ever to ensure that our “why” permeated everything we did, especially the decisions we were making. Using our “why” to ensure alignment among the growing team was one of the smartest decisions I made. Here are some tips for doing so:
START WITH “FIVE WHYS” TO GET TO THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
When faced with a key business challenge, I rely on the “five whys” strategy to drill down to the core issue.
