Nurturing team trust through personal purpose

[Corinne Chauffat]

One way I have experienced building trust in teams is to set up a session during which every team member is unveiling their personal purpose. Personal purpose here relates to the purpose a whole individual has, i.e. life related, not limited to work or professional purpose.

The input to the session is for each individual to think about their purpose; I would provide tools to do that, such as the structure of thinking of:
1. The impact the individual want to have in the world
2. The « what needs to happen » to have such an impact
3. The « what do you need to do to make this happen »
4. The « who do you need to be (or become) to do this »
Then turn it on its head to read it such as: « I am ….that…..to… resulting in…. »

During the session, team members would typically seat in circle, have nothing in their hands. I make this moment quite solennel in the sense of giving and receiving a gift from each other. Each one would share out loud their purpose, others listen, tuning into becoming curious about what they hear, what they see/observe. Then anyone can ask questions to know more, get more insights, what values are there, etc. I then ask how does it link to the team’s purpose and values.

The positive outcome/impact of such session is multiple:
1. It enables each one to discover others from a different perspective and get more personal insights about who are others as whole individual not just work colleagues. This creates bonds at a different level. Some similarities are revealed, some diversity as well. It is usually quite inspiring for each other.
2. It enable to practice active listening and tuning into different levels, beyond just the words.
3. It creates a line of sight, a link to the team’s purpose which is strengthening the belonging to the team and/or contribute to become more aware of the team’s diversity and what each one’s role play or could play in the team’s dynamic.

Overall, there is a great sense of intimacy and vulnerability that is present. My experience is that it is boosting trust, and nurturing camaraderie and respect as well.

My caveat is that I always experienced the above in teams who already had a fairly good level of trust. If I have to build trust from scratch, I am not using this exercise first.

Happy to hear your thoughts, feedback and any question.
Thanks,
Corinne

[Author]

Posts