Why Are We Here? From Individual Meaning to a Shared Purpose

“Work hard.”
“Bring energy and enthusiasm.”
“Talk, talk, talk.”

Coach Story was getting tired of repeating the same motivational slogans every day with little results. Coach Story was the new head girls’ basketball coach at Desoto High School. Desoto was once a state powerhouse, but they were now struggling to make the playoffs and have had 5 straight losing seasons. Coach Story was hoping to change the culture in her program, and after leading her team to their first playoff berth in 5 years and being only 2 games away from the state tournament in her first season, she thought she was going into the off-season with a lot of positive momentum, but she was frustrated with the effort and attendance of her athletes.

Coach Story was explaining her situation to Coach Mills, one of her trusted coaching friends. Coach Mills told her, “You need to create a shared purpose or vision statement for your team.”

Coach Story asked, “What is that?”

Coach Mills replied, “We spend so much time telling our athletes what we want, what we think, and what we need, but we don’t spend a lot of time asking them what they want, think, or need. Everybody has a reason for playing sports, and everybody has a reason for being on the team. Ask them what that reason is. When we find that out, it can help us better engage them and motivate them to do what we need them to do. If we can connect their individual goals, wants, and needs to the team’s goals, wants, and needs, we can keep them happy, hopeful, and engaged to work hard, smarter, and more together.

“Then when you find out each player’s individual purpose for being on the team, you can merge that all together and create a shared purpose for the team.”

Coach Story asked, “How do I do that?”

“Simple,” Coach Mills said. “Ask them, ‘Why are you a part of this team?’ At practice tomorrow, bring a paper and a pen for everybody. Tell them, ‘We are about to have the best season this program has had in 10 years. At the end of the season, EVERYBODY is going to want to talk to you and ask you what you did to change this program. I want to make sure that you know how to answer that. First, think about and write down a Twitter version of why you are a part of this team. I am going to give you 5 minutes to do so. When 5 minutes are up, you are going to share your purpose with a partner.’”

Coach Mills asked, “How many athletes do you have on the team?”

“We have 9 that show up regularly,” said Coach Story.

“Great,” Coach Mills said. “After they have all written down their purpose statement, have them partner up with somebody and share what they wrote down. Then have them create a shared statement with their partner. Tell them, ‘Using what you already wrote down and what your partner wrote down, create a partner statement for why you are both here on this team. One group will have three people because we have an odd number of athletes.’”

“Then give them another 5 minutes to write down a shared purpose for their group. Move around from group to group to make sure that they are on task and use guiding questions to keep them focused and engaged as needed. But let this be all about them. Encourage them to use their own words.”

“After 5 minutes, have the smaller groups then make bigger groups of 4 and 5 people, and have the groups do the same thing so that we have two different purpose statements. Again, walk from group to group to provide guidance and assistance as needed. When 5 minutes are up, have someone from both groups read out the two statements that they have created and write them on the board.”

“The final step is to take what both groups came up with, and as a team, create one shared vision or purpose for why you are all here. It should be short and to the point. It should be something that everyone can remember and repeat. When you make it to the state tournament at the end of the next season and you have reporters all over the gym, they are going to be asking you and your players how you made this turnaround happen. Every athlete is going to be able to say that you, together, created a shared vision. When they are asked what that shared vision is, they will all be able to repeat it because they created it, and they lived it.”

“All great teams talk regularly, recognize each other regularly, and celebrate together. It starts with talking about the things that are important and meaningful to them as individuals. Start by creating individual meaning and a shared vision.”

Coach Story asked, “What is the individual meaning part, and how is it different than a shared vision?”

“Meaning is unique to the person, and the shared vision belongs to all,” Coach Mills said. “The individual meaning part is what they first wrote down when they were on their own. The shared vision is what you all came up with together. Have them keep what they first wrote by themselves. Maybe even have them read it aloud one day or have them hang it up in their locker so that they always remember why they are here. Having that statement accessible during the hard times of the season when they lack motivation and inspiration can be meaningful and impactful.”

“Create a poster or hang up the statement that you all came up with as a team. Teams with a strong purpose and a strong sense of ‘WHY’ can inspire each other. When you have a strong culture, people will rise up and take care of each other when times get tough, and athletes on purpose-driven teams transcend the transactional because they know that they are a part of something bigger than themselves.”

As they finished this conversation, Coach Mills said, “Let me know how this goes! If this is a meaningful and impactful experience for your team, we can talk about the next step.”