I have the privilege of working with a pretty wide range of clients in a variety of fields: accounting, law enforcement, public safety, home care services, and early childhood education. One common thread for all of them: there’s always work to be done on communication (and asking the right questions).
I recently spoke at a conference for a local Head Start program, and can I just say that those folks deserve a massive shoutout? (I promise I’ll get to the main point, but take a quick detour with me here.)
Despite challenges to funding at just about every level, Head Start programs are still making magic happen, helping our youngest humans grow into the capable, confident, thriving adults they will someday be.
I mean, the statistics are utterly compelling. The likelihood of a Head Start student graduating high school and going on to college is phenomenal (low-income children who participate in Head Start are 39 percent more likely to finish college). And the program serves kids who otherwise might not get that kind of investment and opportunity.
For a long time, the slogan for the Peace Corps was “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” And I think the same could be said of the folks who work in Head Start. It’s a job people do purely for the love of it. They aren’t in this for the money, but they feel an immense sense of purpose in what they do (as they should).
All that to say, write your members of Congress to let them know why Head Start funding matters to you.
Now, to my main point. I recently met with a Head Start program that has a new executive team. To start things off, I asked two questions: “What are your expectations? What do you hope to get out of this?” (You’ve probably heard me put it another way: “What do you want?” and “What are you willing to do to get what you want?”)
They went straight to communication. Because it’s all about communication, isn’t it? Everything breaks down if the communication doesn’t work.
My experience with this particular team was interesting. On one hand, they think they’re a good team, but over the course of our conversation, they began to notice gaps in their communication.
Spoiler alert: gaps in communication are common to all teams, not just this one. What I have to say here applies to every team in every industry imaginable. Communication is paramount.
And they’re right. There are so many things this team does really well — until they take a closer look. And rest assured, the gaps aren’t intentional. Nobody designed it that way, and there’s no animosity about the way things are right now. Still, they realize now that things should be different.
They have a great team, but it was on the verge of breaking down because they couldn’t (yet) answer those questions for themselves: “What are your expectations? What do you hope to get out of this?” And those breakdowns have created problems that over time didn’t really seem like problems because they were so ordinary, so status quo for that team.
Asking the right questions and challenging what is “normal” (or at least stepping back to evaluate it) can breathe new life into a team that is struggling, stagnant, or disconnected.
If this sounds like your team, I’d love to help. Contact me today to learn how to get started.
Photo by Jackson Simmer on Unsplash
