Читать книгу Navigate the Swirl - Richard S. Hawkes - Страница 11

Growth River also helped us unlock the full potential of teams within our organization. The theory behind it is simple: we're able to do much more as a team than we can individually. Companies are not machines. They are social systems made up of individuals who themselves have a purpose and thirst to succeed and have impact. High-performing organizations are comprised of constellations of high-performing teams.

Teams are high-performing when they bring together all the necessary perspectives—in other words, the necessary elements to form a system of roles that enable a team to be in it together—to achieve the purpose of the enterprise, the business, and every person on the team. I've learned to never underestimate the power that this concept of role definition can provide in terms of clarity and focus. Defined roles unlock the human potential within teams and then across teams, ultimately lifting the entire organization.

Our leaders and associates lean into this philosophy, advocating for a particular set of priorities that are critical for our future success. They take ownership of that perspective because they know it will ultimately create the impact on our clients, colleagues, and communities that we want to have.

It's an approach that works because we are organized around a shared purpose. That purpose is to partner for positive impact to improve the lives of our clients and colleagues, and together, better our communities and society. It's a purpose that guides everything we do. Every decision is made, and every action is done, through the lens of our purpose. It's our “why.” It reinforces the notion that our firm does not exist only to help people build wealth. We're more than that. We help people achieve things they might never have otherwise thought possible. We help them connect to their own purpose and bring it to life. Our purpose is the wellspring of our culture, leadership, business strategy, capabilities approach, and operating model. It demands that there be a logical connection among all those dimensions of our approach to growth and innovation.

For us to be able to serve our purpose throughout our second century in business as well as we did during our first, we must transform. Our purpose demands it.

It's equally important that our transformation be leader-led. Our leaders need to live and champion the mindsets needed for our transformation to succeed—their habits of thought and action need to always be in alignment with our goals and our desire to fulfill our purpose. But you don't just “tell” someone about this. Living it out, together, through shared experiences and a journey of discovery and learning, unleashes an ardor for the future that inspires leaders to engage others as they navigate the uncertainty of changing and learning. It's challenging, but it's worth it—the opportunity cost of not changing, of not adapting to the forces impacting our industry and our business, is too high.