| In the movie Braveheart, Scottish folk hero, and leader in the War of Scottish Independence, William Wallace shouted, “They may take away our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”
His impassioned speech continued, “Your heart is free… have the courage to follow it. Every man dies. Not every man really lives!” Wallace employed this battle cry (at least in the movie) to rally his countrymen to join in the fight against England. He gave his neighbors meaning and purpose – something to fight for. Now imagine the frenzied soldiers running into battle, committed to the cause, eager to encounter their enemy. Suddenly, one of the soldiers pulls Wallace aside in the middle of the action to complain about another soldier. “He’s definitely sabotaging me! I was excluded from the meeting last night. Plus, he never considers my ideas. I keep asking for a deadline and he refuses to commit. And his equipment is nicer than mine!” Inconceivable. Because when a battle cry triggers passion and action in others, people run in the same direction, thereby demoting inconsequential circumstances and situations. But when there is no battle cry – no purpose, no ambition on a mission, no passion – people elevate the inconsequential and make the unimportant important. We are meaning-making machines. If we don’t make meaning in our work, we will make meaning in how we work. So when teams struggle – personalities clash and altercations persist – it’s often a symptom, an indication that people are missing the why, the purpose, the meaning in their work together. If people don’t have a reason to run in the same direction, they are more likely to run into each other. © 2020. Ann Tardy and Mentor Lead. www.mentorlead.com | www.anntardy.com |
