Why? That is the question. 🤔
Hey Friends,
Purpose is something that has come up and slapped me in the face recently both from a personal and professional perspective.
The interesting thing about purpose is that while it may rarely change, we often need to navigate back to center when we sway, and we’re bound to sway. We’re human, not robots.
I was having a conversation with Tim Martinez, another great Substack author, and a close colleague of mine from the Entrempowerment group the other day and he mentioned that he’s still using a formula I turned him on to many years when I launched my first branding course called The Golden Circle.
While I’m not the creator of this, I certainly have incorporated it into my brand-building arsenal and you should be incorporating it into your business too.
Simon Sinek, the futurist, optimist, and thinker had a phenomenal TED Talk that changed my career trajectory over a decade ago called Start With Why.
Essentially he points out that every company on the planet knows WHAT they do, but few know WHY they do what they do.
If you haven’t seen it, WATCH THIS and prepare to be transformed.
WHY
When I talk about your WHY, I’m also referring to your purpose (from the Strategic Pyramid which we discussed a few months back). This is your reason for being. Why' taps into the part of the customer’s brain that influences behavior. Exactly the type of place your brand wants to live in because with endless competition and clutter, you’re not going to win by just telling your audience what you do.
You’re going to win by leading with WHY in every action your organization performs because customers want more than just features and benefits. They want meaning and leading with why shows them that they matter.
HOW
How you do what you do could very simply be categorized as your USP (unique selling proposition) or in the case of the Strategic Pyramid, your mission statement. It’s how you’re going to provide value to your audience. It’s those specific actions taken to achieve your why and while the how may change with innovation and new offerings, it will always ladder up to support your why statement.
WHAT
While easy to understand, what you do doesn’t attract new customers or talent. It also doesn’t retain them. What has just become too bland and generic to be different.
Go to a networking event (safety first) and strike up a conversation. 99.9% of the time the person you’re talking to is going to lead with WHAT they do and in most cases, over-explain it. Sure, it's fairly easy for any leader or organization to articulate 'What' they do; this can be expressed as the products a company sells or the services it offers, but it’s uninspired and doesn’t help to differentiate you from the sea of sameness.
If you really want to stick out, answer with WHY the next time you’re asked “what do you do?” Not only will your conversation be more impactful from the first interaction, but it’ll also help to imprint you (and your brand/organization) in the person’s mind.
You’ll be different, and different is good. Different builds brand affinity.
That’s it for this week. If you have any questions or need help with identifying your golden circle, give me a holla. I’d love to help your organization find its’ true purpose because the aha moment you’re looking for is usually closer than you think. It just needs an outsider's perspective.
Enjoy the upcoming weekend, friends. 🏖
- Steven