I was spellbound listening to Captain Michael Abrashoff of the United States Navy, sharing leadership lessons as Captain of the USS Benfold, a destroyer. It was impactful when he shared about unity. He pointed out on a ship built for battle; the weapons department is critical, the most important. He reminded us that the gunnery crews’ proficiency in hitting targets was useless unless engineering could “make the propeller turn and get us to the battle.” There were 24 departments on his ship, all needing to work together for the good of the ship and the lives of the 310 crew members. Through his many stories, he shared example after example of why working together was critical for success. I found it interesting he delegated many responsibilities to his staff, but not efforts to assure there was unity on the ship, it remained his responsibility as a leader.
Reflecting on his message, I know the words apply to all of us wherever we work for or volunteer. Whether it’s a corporation, a family-owned business, a non-profit or church, there must be unity, or any success will be short lived.
What gets in the way of unity?
We don’t talk about vision and purpose – The very things that should unite an organization aren’t talked about. At one point in time everyone knew the vision and purpose, but the “everyone” of today isn’t the same “everyone” who heard it. Organizations aren’t static, the board, leadership and those who do the work are constantly changing. Leaders must continually remind everyone involved about purpose and where the organization is going.
Conflicting visions – Yes, it really happens, although the differences are usually not about direction, but about how the organization gets there. A group of six leaders might have six different operational visions based on their thoughts and past experiences. I once worked with an organization where most senior leaders wanted consistency in operations between operating units. At the local operating unit level, leaders wanted freedom to do what they thought best in their market. We were consistently inconsistent and inefficient because these visions conflicted, and we didn’t do a good job of working it out.
Personal differences – Your thoughts aren’t universal, they are yours. We are each unique and our personal differences, when working together in unity, can be a great strength. Sometimes conflict arises because people want their voice to be the one that is listened to, you know, “I want it to be my way.” If it can’t be worked out for the common good, then everyone is working against each other, and everything grinds to a halt. People must be willing to put aside personal differences to work for the good of everyone.
Fear of losing people – Fear is a terrible position to operate from. It’s almost a universal truth that you can’t make everyone happy. If you are worried about losing people because things aren’t the way they want them, you’ll try to appease them. We don’t want them to quit, whether they are a co-worker or in non-profits and churches, as a volunteer. Sadly, trying to always satisfy them never works, the person won’t change their view, they only feel more power because they get more attention. The reality is you may lose some people if they don’t agree with the vision and purpose. It’s okay. You aren’t pushing them out, they are self-selecting because it doesn’t work for them. They will be replaced by people who want to be there because of your vision and purpose.
To be successful, the focus needs to be on unity of vision and purpose, not on personal preferences.
As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor… If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. I Corinthians 12: 20-23, 26
