Communicating the "Why"

Scott Hodge (Lead Pastor of The Orchard) had an excellent post on his blog that I thought I'd share with you here...

And Here's Why...

"One of the things we’ve been spending a lot of time coaching our leaders on is the importance of communicating the “WHY" behind the “WHAT.” Because let’s face it, it’s easy to communicate the “what”, isn’t it?

“When the music begins, do this.”
“When parents approach the check in stations, do this.”

Easy! It’s simply a matter of communicating a specific task.
But communicating the “WHY” behind that task involves great intentionality and is something that is often times easily overlooked.

So one of the phrases we’ve been teaching our leaders to use is this:
“And here’s why...”
In other words, when you are explaining a task, take it a step further by adding that simple phrase. For example:
“When the music begins, do this. And here’s why that is so important....”
“When parents approach the check in stations, do this. And here’s why we do that....”

Suddenly, you’ve just moved from being a task master to being a coach. Does it take more time to explain the "WHY"? Yep. Is it easy to forget to do it? Yep. But is the payoff HUGE?
“YESSSSSSSSSS.....” (Spoken Napoleon Dynamite style)

Bottom line? The WHY is huge and it makes all the difference in the world. Because now, the value and vision of your organization is being communicated. Now, you are coaching and helping someone understand your culture. But perhaps most importantly, now you are raising a leader who will be able to more effectively pour themselves into someone else down the road.

And here’s something else to think about... Can the “why" behind every task be traced back to the mission of your organization? If not, then that is probably a clear sign that it’s a task that needs to either go “bye-bye” or at least be redefined.