My son Ajay loves to build sand castles.  So he was delighted when we recently found ourselves in the Caribbean on a beautiful beach, with soft sand ripe for sand castle building.  Since we didn’t bring our sand castle building supplies, the kids grabbed a couple of cups from the tiki bar and set out to find a spot to build their castle.  They started building next to a very well established castle that had clearly been underway for a few hours and had four kids working on it.  They asked for tips from the neighboring builders and the dad that was serving as a quasi project manager and then began their own construction.  After about five minutes of work though, they abandoned their solo efforts when asked by the other kids if they wanted to join forces.  

Soon the existing castle went from a big footprint to a giant one, with the lifeguard telling the kids that it was too big and that they could no longer expand the perimeter of the castle because it was interfering with his ability to patrol the beach.  Instead of deterring their efforts, the kids put their focus on the inside of the castle creating an even more elaborate sand castle village with pools, moats, decorations, structures, and towers.  Additional kids joined in and many passers by pulled out their phones to take pictures of the spectacle to which the kids jokingly said; “Pictures cost one dollar sir!” and “Don’t forget to tag us on instagram, ma'am.”

Kids are naturally pretty good about playing together, even with others they just met.  But as I watched the afternoon unfold, I was struck by the idea of how quickly this group was working together as a team in the same direction.  While it is fun to build a sand castle, it was much more fun for them to build one together because it was so much more than what they could create on their own.  And not everyone needed to be there from start or to stay until the end for them to feel part of creating something special.  It was one of the highlights of the trip for our kids.

I believe one of the foundational elements of great company culture is having something for the team to believe in.  A trust that they are working toward something bigger than themselves and that their work and contributions matter.  Too many organizations get caught up in the details and minutia of the day to day and forget to highlight the big picture.  They fail to communicate where the company is going and how the employees fit within that plan.  At all stages in business from startups to multigenerational companies, we need visionaries to paint a compelling picture of where they want to go and then have the courage to begin on that path.  And as they start building their “sand castles”, others take notice, begin to see what is possible, and are excited to join in to take it to the next level.

As you kick off your year, I challenge you to think about the goals you’ve set for your organization.  Why do people want to join your team?  What are you building that generates allure and excitement?  What are you creating that draws people in and gets them charged up to help you get there?  If it’s big enough people will stop, take notice, and you won’t have trouble attracting willing talent to help you make it even better!