My experiment worked!

Last week, I talked about the importance of having a shared vision or purpose and how often the programs I work with don't have one or aren't connected to it when they do have one.

I get it. Many of us work for organizations that either need a vision or, if they have one, it's in some handbook or manual that never gets looked at. Or, the vision is written on the wall or a plaque, but if you ask staff about it, they can't tell you about it or how it's connected to their everyday lives.

So, I decided to do an experiment during my national NAEYC conference workshop, and it worked!!

My workshop was on highly effective teams, and I began as usual by asking what the difference is between a group of people and a team.

After a few callouts, we all agreed that, at that moment, everyone in the room (about 150+ people) was a group.

Of course, me being me, I had to challenge the group. So, I asked them if they were sure we were just a group since we all worked with children and families and had similar interests. Everyone agreed that while we might share similar interests, that didn't make us a team.

So, I talked about the first characteristic of highly effective teams, Common Direction – also known as vision.

I asked the group to spend a few minutes writing their professional vision. Then, I asked for volunteers to share theirs. When done, I asked one volunteer if they would be willing to play "big" team and do an experiment with me.

And this is where things got interesting…

I asked this woman to face the wall, cover her eyes, and share her vision while I asked her a series of questions. Before she began, I asked the rest of the group to give her feedback by standing up when they felt connected to her vision and could see themselves working with her.

About five minutes later, after several questions that homed in on her vision, about two-thirds of the room stood for her. I then asked her to open her eyes and turn around to see what she accomplished with total strangers.

And here's what's even crazier… I then asked the group if they still felt like just a group or if they felt like a team. They all said - even the ones who didn't stand up, they felt like a team! And that they would gladly go to work at this woman's program.

Now that's the power of purpose!!

So, if you haven't already, don't forget to check out my free resource on "The Power of Purpose."

Have a great week, and I'll see you next Tuesday!