Riding on a broom to the Moon

Many would have heard this story of JFK visiting NASA space center. He spots a janitor with a broom, introduces himself, and asks him what he is doing. 

"Well, Mr. President," the janitor responded, "I'm helping put a man on the moon." 

To many, this janitor was a menial worker just cleaning the building and his contribution to the stopped there. But the larger story unfolding around him in the background, he was the proud member of a team that was helping to make history. Is it not?

Here is the point. It's not the janitor but the leader behind this mission who had injected that sense of belongingness into the team which aligned everyone with a higher purpose which the organization is pursuing.

Was he an aberration or we can find such motivated members across organizations? How many people do you feel we would bump into in an organization who have that sense of pride because of the purpose of the organization and also for the direct and indirect contribution of their role to the organization achieving its objectives? 

A trip in public transport, a field trip or a visit to an organization offers beautiful opportunities to us to observe people and their relationship with the organizations they work for. More technically speaking if they are aligned with the purpose of the organization they are working for.

A question about their work mostly does not elicit anything beyond the department and their job description at the most. The relationship between his role and its contribution to the organization in achieving its goals will always be missing. No matter how large or small your role, you are contributing to the larger story unfolding within your life, your business, and your organization. Why is this lost on most of the members?

What do organization leaders do about it?

Dr. John Paul Kotter, Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School, author, and founder of the management consulting firm Kotter International created this organizational change business strategy.

[Read more at: https://www.experiencetolead.com/three-methods-of-organizational-alignment/]

It’s one thing to hope for such alignment in an organization but very difficult to achieve in its totality. Many variables at each of its constituents and the ecosystem it is being tried in make it a challenging task. But when your entire team embraces that type of attitude and belief system, incredible things can happen.

So let us give it a try!