Why am I here?

Recently, I was working with a client and talking about the culture of their organisation and how we could support them in a development programme.  This kind of work is never straightforward because we don’t come in with a ‘here is one I did earlier’ approach.

Every organisation and situation is different and demands some clear and individualised thinking.

I met with their Senior Leadership Team and started to explore the range of views and what each of them thought was going on across the organisation.  We then started to talk about vision, identity, values and all that good stuff that us consultants are supposed to thrive on.

Something didn’t feel right!

The words on the piece of paper made sense, but something still gnawed away at me.

Then I realised it could describe any organisation in the same line of work.  It was just like a template where you change the organisation name.  There was no sense of personalisation or true identity.

My next two questions are what has prompted this writing:

• What does it mean to work for this organisation?
• What does my job role do to add value to the organisation’s purpose?

I don’t know if you agree with me, but please let me know. For me, a job worth having is one where you truly know why you are there.  The purpose of the organisation and the individual job role.   With those clear, culture probably sorts itself.

Remember the old story about the man cleaning the floor who knew he was part of sending men to the moon?  That was answering these questions.

The cultural work continues but against the background of re-evaluating identity and vision.  I wonder where you are in your organisation; do you need to rethink?  If you do and want someone to talk it through with you, please get in touch for a chat.