Connecting What with Why: Linking Daily Work to Strategic Purpose

Definition

Employees perform their tasks (the "what"), but they become motivated when they understand why those tasks matter—how they connect to the organization's mission and values. Leaders create this connection explicitly and repeatedly by explaining not just what people are doing, but how it fits into the larger picture and why it matters for customers, the company, and the world. This "what with why" linkage is the core communication work leaders must do.

In the Book

Bates devotes Chapter 4 entirely to this mechanism. She opens with a story of a Silicon Valley company that failed to communicate strategy downward, even to senior directors who weren't in sales or business development. Those directors later admitted they should have known about the company's need to grow revenue while delivering client work; had they understood "the why," they would have brainstormed differently and generated new ideas.

Contrast this with Aon's Greg Case, who visited over 500 offices to "create that connection between the people and the company, the people and the message, the people and the strategy." Case describes the outcome: "In a nutshell, that is what it means to motivate like a CEO, to make a connection between every single person and the fundamental mission of the organization."

The book illustrates this through Andrew Liveris (Dow Chemical): "Strategy is a very theoretical thing... You [have to] take the concept and give it content." This means translating abstract strategic vision into language and examples that different audiences can relate to. A factory worker, a researcher, and a sales manager all need to see how their work serves the mission.

The mechanism also requires repetition and tailoring. Liveris says: "From the factory floor to C-suite, from the lunchroom to the boardroom, you need to think about how best to get your message across to each individual and group."

Why It Matters

Without this connection, employees are merely executing tasks—work becomes transactional. Discretionary effort, innovation, and resilience evaporate. With it, people understand how their contributions matter and can align their own initiative and problem-solving to the mission. This distinction explains why some organizations hit walls during change and others move fluidly—the latter have built shared understanding of why change matters. In practice, this connection also reduces the burden on leaders: people self-manage better when they understand what "done" looks like and why it matters, rather than waiting for direction.