What’s Your Why?

Once there lived a wise and noble king. He lived a happy life with his wife. Then, only a few years after their marriage, and before they had any children, his wife got very sick and died. While devastated by the loss of his wife, the king ruled with honour and took care of the people in his kingdom. The king never remarried.

As the years passed the king knew the time would come where he would have to find the right person to rule the kingdom. He decided to call upon the people of the kingdom to help him find a suitable heir to the throne, but realised there would have to be a test to help identify the most promising candidate.

One day, while the king was taking a stroll through the countryside, he came upon a massive sinkhole. “I’ve got it!” exclaimed the King. “I know the test that would help me identify the next king.” And with that, he quickly returned to the castle to share his idea with his advisors.

The next day the king issued a decree. “Come one, come all. In three weeks’ time, those who feel worthy enough to take my place will meet in the town square to demonstrate why you are the one who should be heir to the throne.”

Thousands of people travelled from every corner of the kingdom, with the dream of being chosen as the king’s successor. The king took everyone out to the countryside to show them the sinkhole. “Here is the question that, if answered correctly, will earn you the rightful place as our next ruler.”

Pointing to the massive hole, he simply asked, “What should I do?”

After several days and hundreds of responses, no one had yet to come up with the right answer. Candidates would say “Fill it with rocks and dirt.” “Fill it with water.” “Build a bridge across the sinkhole.” “Build a wall around it.” “Put up warning signs.” “Make it a graveyard.” “Leave it be.” While some of these were interesting ideas, they weren’t what the king was looking for.

The king was getting discouraged as the number of candidates dwindled. It was then the turn of a young girl to answer the king’s question; a poor farm girl from the countryside she was ridiculed by those older and wiser.

“So,” the king began with a disheartened and sceptical tone. “What should I do?”

The young woman hesitated for a moment and then responded with, “Why do anything?”

Suddenly, the king’s disposition changed. He looked at the young woman and asked with hope, “Why? When everyone else advised me what I could do with the sinkhole, why are you the only one not to advise me at all, nor tell me what I should do? Why do you come to me with only a question?”

The young woman respectfully answered. “Because I cannot answer your question, my king. I don’t know your why. Until I understand not just what you want to do but why you want to do anything about this sinkhole and your intentions behind it, only then can I advise you to create your desired outcome, even if the proper course of action is to do nothing.”

“Congratulations,” exclaimed the king. “You are the next heir to the throne of our kingdom.” The town was shocked. The elders of the town questioned the king. “Why this girl?”

To which the king replied, “I never wanted to fix anything. That was not my intention. Everyone came to me with a solution to fixing what they assumed was a problem that needed fixing. They never took the time to uncover and understand my why or my desired intentions and point of view.

This young woman was the only one who was insightful enough to seek out my intention and uncover my why.”

The key to being a great leader is understanding what your people want and expect from you and why they want it. When leading your team to a shared goal and vision, they need to understand not only what they need to do but why they are doing it so they can see how they personally benefit. To set and manage people’s expectations and create alignment in thinking and action requires understanding people’s why, who they are and their intentions.