I wrote about this some time ago, but I believe it is worth a repost. Some of you may dislike any manual labor, I understand, but bear with me. I remember how my dear friend Victor once embarked in painting his parent’s house. “It is the one job I have done that delivers the highest feeling of accomplishment” -he commented. “there is no doubt on what you have achieved, and progress is quite fast”.

During the early stages of the pandemic, we had to replace our home’s roof. There was no way around it. Every day, I had building crews working around the house, and it was hard to believe the huge contrast between most of my depressed, burned out, and isolated “knowledge worker” friends, and these folks nailing plywood above our heads. They would arrive early in the morning and got to it with enthusiasm, sometimes singing and making fun of each other. The contrast was uncanny.

The vision was clear. A new roof for this family. The roofers knew exactly what they had to do, and exactly WHY they had to follow each step. Why the two nails, or the strap, or the washer under the nail.

Purpose makes a lot of a difference. Managers tell us what we have to do, true leaders inspire us with why it has to be done.

Never underestimate telling those who work for you the WHY, even if they are “just” the ones holding a hammer.