Have you ever stopped to wonder why people do what they do?

Most of the time, we just take it for granted. That person is a graphic designer or an accountant or a business owner, or even a consultant.

You started your business to achieve something very special to you; in the beginning, that was enough. But a business only succeeds when it serves its customers. As your business grows and scales, the business’ vision and purpose have to grow too.

That is when you must understand why people do what they do.

But why?

Let me explain. I left the corporate world because I hated office politics. People were more invested in their chance to climb the seniority ladder than to do great work. If great work meant they would jeopardise their perceived position in the pecking order, then good work was sacrificed, and it did not matter if that negatively impacted some people along the way.

It was all about becoming more powerful in the organisation.

Not everybody was like that, there were some good guys, but the Machiavellian narcissists ruled the roost.

Usually, when a business starts, it begins well, but at every step, there is a risk that ‘politics’ can get in the way. Every time you take someone on, grow the team, bring in an investor, grow and scale, politics will be waiting to undermine you. You see, politics is part of the human condition.

People who can’t do what you do, people who are in too much of a rush, and people who are jealous of the environment want to knock that environment down and do it their way.

Think Lion King or Far From The Madding Crowd.

Why do people like to sabotage what exists and to replace it with their version?

It is because there is not a strong enough vision for them. That employee doesn’t feel included. They can’t see themself fulfilled in the future, so they decide to do what they can to make their vision for their fulfilled future more likely.

When I worked in a large corporation, we merged with another $10 billion corporation. After the jostling-for-position had settled down, there was a period of calm. We dedicated ourselves to creating a new corporation. It did not last long. Silos, fiefdoms and cliques rapidly re-appeared, and it was back to politics as usual.

You don’t have to be a large organisation to suffer the effects of politics. It happens in small to medium-sized businesses as well. It occurs in any business where the individual team members feel disenfranchised, taken for granted and ignored.

To hold a team together requires great leadership and a powerful, inclusive vision.

So why do we have so many business failures? Why do so many businesses fail to deliver the lifestyle their owners and founders started them for?

It is because they don’t know how to build genuinely aligned teams – aligned around a powerful vision, one that is strong enough to be bigger than the individual’s personal goals AND one that delivers on every individual’s personal goals.

You started your business to achieve something very special to you; in the beginning, that was enough. But a business only succeeds when it serves its customers, so the vision and purpose of the business have to grow.

Your team will make their best contribution when they understand how they can contribute to your vision.  They will buy into the business’ vision; buy into the business’s purpose, where it has come from, why it started; buy into the difference it will make in the world. It becomes something that matters to them.

The difference that the business is going to make is a difference they want to contribute to and be a part of.

So if you want your business to turn out the way your dream says it should then ask yourself, are your team as committed to your vision as you are? Do you know why they are working for you? Do you know what contribution they want to make that fits your vision?

No matter what stage your business is, now is the time when you can expand your vision. All of your people must be able to participate and contribute their best to your vision.

The transition, from running a business where it is all about your vision to one that includes other people’s vision, is probably the most challenging transition you will make.

It is the transition from being a business owner to becoming an inspiring business leader, and that is when your ability to deliver on your dream lifestyle becomes real.