Are you fully focused on the "why" of your business?

Last week a colleague sent me a blog entry with a video clip embedded and a note about how important the message was. So, I watched it and I have been thinking about it ever since.

The speaker, Simon Sinek, re-focused my attention on the core purpose of my work and my business. It is tempting, especially in this economic climate, to find ourselves focused on the products and services we need to create, the “what” of our businesses, and “how” we produce and get them to market so people will buy them and we can stay in business, hopefully even thrive. But the “what” and the “how” are rarely why people buy.

Simon Sinek’s words were a friendly and compelling “wake up call”.  

I asked myself how Simon's words applied to me and my business. There are a lot of people who offer professional business programs.  This is the "what" of my business. And, there are more than a few that focus on reflective land-based and strategic business practices, even in magnificent places, to deliver value.  This is the "how". 

So, I asked myself again -  "what is the WHY of all the walkabout programs?" My "why" is what I care most about contributing. Not hard to answer.  I create walkabouts so that people can shift the way they experience their businesses and their lives, no matter what is going on around them, in a way that they reconnect with their core purpose and can make choices that create value across multiple levels – personal, business, and larger community. So that they can thrive.  So their businesses can thrive.  So the communities they are members of can receive the value they are intent on creating.  It's the business people who care about this ability and want to create holistic value through their businesses that I want to connect with. 

What about you?  What is the overriding "why" of your business and how do you keep it front and center even in uncertain times like now?

Comments

[Steve Davis]

Hi Glenna,

I love, love, love the "Why" video...I'm going to go answer that question for myself in more depth.

Thank you for offering an example of your Why. And I wonder if you could take it deeper. A desire to contribute seems a bit generic. Why do you care about contributing and what do you want to contribute?

Now to practice what I'm asking you to do. First some background...I grew up never really feeling part of a family, of a group of a tribe. I always felt different, like an outsider. This eventually led me to explore how communities form, how groups work together successfully.

I am inspired by the courage it takes to question and challenge the status quo for the highest good of all concerned. I do my best to demonstrate this courage and teach it to others in the form of group leadership skills.

Best,
Steve

[Glenna]

Hi Steve,

Glad you enjoyed the Why video. To respond to your question. I think I say what I wish to contribute through the walkabouts above, so I won't repeat it here.

From your example it sounds like you are asking for a more personal "why" grounded in my individual history.

From the time I was 9 years old I understood how our stories about what is important often separate rather than connect us to others. Creating experiences that support people in reconnecting deeply with themselves as unique and connected facets of the larger systems they live and work within is a key thread of my work. I believe this interdependent systems perspective is essential to all of us as leaders in order to make decisions that serve the health and wellbeing individuals and systems.

Glenna