“We awaken, challenge, and together we trsnsform a few individuals, teams, and leaders into ONE, ONE, distinct and deeply connected,that is BTL.” This is our purpose, this is why we’re here.
Today, lets unpack this last piece to our purpose. Here we go…
Why not just STOP at ONE, that should be clear enough. Why bother adding the comma and explaining what type of oneness we’re aiming toward? And, why BTL for all, aren’t there some of us that just were made to follow along? We can’t all blaze our own way, that would be chaos, wouldn’t it?
Last evening Miss, Krits, and I attended a beautiful wedding together. I love hearing the vows and thinking through the magic of marriage and why God ordained such a union for man and woman. Even in the most sacred of teams where our aim is the deepest expression of our union we must become ONE with another and, at the same time, become fully who we are ourselves. God designed us for both. God knows that we are at our best when completed by another and at the same time, God still sees us as individuals AND as a couple. Our aim, I believe, in marriage is to become ONE, distinct and deeply connected.
Why would our aim be any different on any other team that is built to transform, that is built to lead? Of course there are deep differences. Our aim is NOT intimacy. However our aim is to begin by building TRUST, deep trust that leads to deep understanding and to each member bringing the fullest expression of who they are to their work. We see few examples of this kinda oneness in marriage and fewer still in the world of work. Most don’t aim that high and settle for marriages and for work that fulfills a need, meets a commitment, and is transactional in nature. I get what I want and my “teammate” gets what they want. We transact. This rarely works as planned. Someone usually transacts toward themselves and the scales of fairness are violated. The violated teammate transacts to make it fair and now the first teammate feels the scales tilt the other way. These kinda transactional relationships, most often turn toxic over time and through too many “tit for tat” kinda interactions. This is the opposite of oneness. This is why so many teams start well intentioned and slowly, slowly, slowly, wind down, lose energy, grow apart, and fade away.
Our aim is oneness and a very specific kind. We want to be a catalyst for bringing teams together as distinct indivduals that are becoming united within, first and foremost. And, as they get comfortable in their own skin, they bring all of their strengths, talents, and abilities to their team. They allow and encourage their teammates to do the same. They share enough vision and purpose to align to a degree. And so they go forward and figure it out as they journey together. They connect with like minded souls and together they improve. This team has individuals that are distinctly different from one another and yet seem eerily aligned and engaged. They seem to know what each other is doing almost before they do it. They have practiced together for so long and with such purpose, that they just flow.
This team is becoming BTL. This team is becoming ONE, distinct and deeply connected. This is our aim. This is why we’re here. This is why we’ll be here awhile. This is why this is so HARD and so REAL. And, this is why we love this WORK.
I hope these past few rants have unpacked some of the thinking behind our words. There is no way to make this easy and take you down the low road to high performance, it doesn’t exist. The high road is the one you want and it requires you to think and act in spite of your doubts. This road requires you to embrace some acute pain. This will be REAL, HARD, WORK. It will be worth it but it will be painful. Embrace this worthy struggle.
This is why it matters a great deal that you know who you are before you get too far down a particular path. We humans have a hard time changing direction the further we get along a trail regardless of whether we like it, loathe it, or can’t even remember where we’re going. Don’t resign yourself to a long climb to a peak with no purpose. Y.O.U. are meant for so much more.
God, help me be a catalyst for helping a few.
God, help me…
BUILT TO LEAD 