IMPACT: MAKING A DIFFERENCE TOGETHER
The story of the stonemasons is perfect for setting up the final aspect of highly effective teams.
A man was walking by a massive construction project. He came upon a worker and asked what he was doing. The worker replied, “I’m making a living” . Curious, the man kept walking. Soon he came upon a second worker and asked him what he was doing. This worker replied, “I’m doing the best job of stone cutting in the country.” Now he was getting somewhere. He kept walking until coming upon a third worker. He asked him the same question. The third worker replied, "We’re building a cathedral!” BOOM! That’s connection to the impact of the team! The first two workers replied with “I” and had relatively narrow views of their contributions. The third worker said “we” and knew exactly what the team was working on and why their efforts mattered. He communicated all that in just four words!
Once a vision is decided and work begins, team collaborations
are strengthened when we know how everyone's contributions add to the collective efforts.
Action Items for Impact
These action items are provided by Chapman & Co Leadership Institute, n.d:
During each time together, relate the efforts to how they will make a difference
Relate the impact you hope to have back to how it serves people by reducing frustration or making life easier for them
Ask team members what their greatest system frustration is and how they would fix it
Real World Story
Had the opportunity to coach high school football for a few years. One of the coaches had a wonderful approach to helping players find their place. He ran a drill and told them to line up where they wanted. During the drill, the players self-adjusted where they lined up based on where they most effectively accomplished the objective. They instinctively knew how to move into the right positions to best help the team.
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