A leader must have clarity of purpose for themselves first. Then it is essential that they give their people clarity of purpose too.

One thing I hated being part of any team was feeling confused about what it was we were trying to achieve. Being confused about our team’s purpose is not a nice feeling at all. Whenever you or your team are working on something, you want to know what it is and why you are doing right?

So, if you don’t know the “what” and the “why” from the very beginning, you are highly unlikely to buy-in. For a leader, that is a very bad place to begin something new with their team.

1. Clarity of Purpose

A leader must give their team clarity of purpose from the beginning, when implementing a new change or working on something new.

When a leader doesn’t ensure that their team knows and understands their purpose then others within the team, and outside of the team will do it for them.

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When I was part of teams and we didn’t have clarity of purpose then I would think up my own, then I would discuss them with my teammates, and we would share them with others. Other members of the team would do the same thing with other teammates too.

Rumours would start to spread and the feeling you get from this is even more confusing. As a leader, rumours is something you MUST avoid, and the only way to do that is to share your vision and purpose with your team from the very beginning.

If you don’t have a vision or you are reluctant to share your vision with your team, then put yourself in your team’s shoes.

How will they feel if they think that their leader either doesn’t know what they’re doing, or that their leader won’t share their vision, purpose or knowledge with them? They are going to feel confused, frustrated and lack trust in you.

2. Building Trust

A highly effective leader knows how to build trust with their people. A highly effective leader is very happy to share their vision and their purpose with their people.

A low performing and insecure leader are reluctant to share their vision and purpose (if they have one) because they want their team to feel blindsided. When the team are blindsided, it makes the low performing leader feel authoritative and in control.

When a low performing and insecure leader is in control, they can tell their team what to do and how to do it. This is called dictatorship not leadership.

When a low performing and insecure leader is in a position of power and creating confusion and frustration, this is when the culture of the team and organisation becomes toxic.

The people within the team and organisation don’t know what is really going on, and when they feel frustrated, they will not put in 100%.

A low performing leader will not share their vision or give clarity of purpose because they don’t want anybody recommending improvements or ways to achieve the vision and purpose. A low performing leader wants to come up with all the ideas and then force those ideas onto the team.

The team will more than likely not buy-in to these ideas, but they will work on them because they have to. This is another example of a team who don’t follow their leader because they want to, they follow because they have to so they will get paid.

When the team are in this position, they will give minimal effort to complete the job. They will not go the extra mile for the team or the leader.

The mindset of a low performing leader is a limited mindset, and with a limited mindset it is impossible to help develop your team into a highly effective team. It is also impossible to develop a highly effective leadership culture within the team, and then spread that culture throughout the organisation.

3. Mindset

A highly effective leader has a limitless mindset, and with a limitless mindset you are very open with your team and with your people. A highly effective leader wants to inspire their team, and the only way to do that is to share their vision and give them clarity of purpose from the beginning.

They know that when they do this, they are building a relationship with their team members and more importantly building trust with them. With trust, a highly effective leader can increase their influence with their team, who will then multiply that influence with others.

By empowering the team with the vision and purpose, a highly effective leader encourages them to share their ideas on how to achieve the vision. They want their team to think for themselves and work together to grow themselves and the mission.

Many minds is a lot more powerful than one mind. By trying out new ideas, making mistakes and learning from them, the team will be one step closer to the vision. A highly effective leader embraces failure and sees it as an opportunity to learn, not an excuse to give up.

I do know leaders who have the right intentions at heart when it comes to culture change, or new change implementation. But, they go about it in the wrong way by not involving the whole team.

They either only involve their best performers, or they just involve their peers and other leaders. This is a mistake that many leaders make and is why I am writing my articles.

I want my articles to help you, your team and your organisation to become the most attractive in your industry. This is why I discuss vision, purpose and culture a lot.

4. Changing Culture

I want to help you change and share your vision and purpose, so that you and your team know exactly where you are going, and what needs to be done to transform your culture.

With a transformed culture and everybody understanding the vision, and having clarity of purpose, you will be well on your way to becoming the most attractive organisation in your industry.

My articles and I will show you how to get clarity of purpose for yourself first, and then how to give clarity of purpose to your people. When you are bought-in to your vision and mission in the first place, you will be a lot more likely to gain the buy-in from your team.

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Your “why” is your purpose, so it needs to come from you. My articles will help you in establishing your “why” and how you can help your team to establish their own personal “why” too.

When a leader’s and each team member’s “why” is unified, that is when a highly effective leadership culture will grow and grow.

As a leader who is growing into a highly effective leader and helping your team to grow into a highly effective team, it is very important who within your team is on your side and who is not.

There will be team members who will not like or agree with your vision or purpose, and there will be team members who will. The team members who are on your side will be positive towards you and the team, and the team members who are not on you side will be negative towards you and the team.

A highly effective team and organisation is one who are all heading in the same direction. They all understand the vision. They all have clarity of purpose. They all follow their leader because they want to. They all multiply the leader’s influence as their own.

I welcome hearing how this post has influenced the way you think, the way you lead, or the results you have achieved because of what you’ve learned in it. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me by commenting below.

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All the best,

Tom (Lead, Grow, Influence)