In reading this review, exchange company or organization for your name or “a person”.
And at certain times, just take in the lesson fully.
“Every single company and organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. Some companies and people know HOW they do WHAT they do. Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do.”
“People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.”
“Knowing WHY is essential for lasting success and the ability to avoid being lumped in with others.”
(This is why building your personal brand as an employee is important to me. You don’t get lumped up. You’re a distinct person already. Why reduce to being common? 😮 Let’s continue…)
“Knowing your WHY is not the only way to be successful, but it is the only way to maintain a lasting success and have a greater blend of innovation and flexibility.”
(I experience this virtually everyday as an employee. Ideas don’t get shut down. I only get tired. My WHY keeps the inspiration always.)
“When a WHY goes fuzzy, it becomes much more difficult to maintain the growth, loyalty, and inspiration that helped drive the original success.”
(This happens over time. Thus, the need for seasonal retreats.)
“‘Instead of asking, ‘WHAT should we do to compete?’ you need to ask yourself, ‘WHY did we start doing WHAT we’re doing in the first place, and WHAT can we do to bring our cause to life considering all the technologies and market opportunities available today?‘”
(As an employee, this will be difficult if you’re working in an organization that is not connected to your WHY.)
“We are drawn to leaders and organizations that are good at communicating what they believe. Their ability to make us feel like we belong, to make us feel special, safe and not alone is part of what gives them the ability to inspire us.”
“Great leaders are those who trust their gut. They are those who understand the art before the science. They win hearts before minds. They are the ones who start with WHY.”
“If a company does not have a clear sense of WHY then it is impossible for the outside world to perceive anything more than WHAT the company does.”
(Hmmm… My goodness!)
“When the WHY is absent, imbalance is produced and manipulations thrive. And when manipulations thrive, uncertainty increases for buyers, instability increases for sellers and stress increases for all.”
(Again, take a look at persons who know their WHY… Their moves and attitude is different. No manipulation.)
“Only when the WHY is clear and when people believe what you believe can a true loyal relationship develop.”
(Yeah! When I converse with highschool students, there’s a connect I get instantly. Why? They feel my WHY even before we converse.)
“The goal of business should not be to do business with anyone who simply wants what you have. It should be to focus on the people who believe what you believe.”
(Seth Godin calls it Tribe.)
“When we are selective about doing business only with those who believe in our WHY, trust emerges.”
(Why? You truly care for the person. Sometimes you can’t help it. One day, one of my students said this to me: “Mr. Chialuka, why are you so obsessed about teenagers?”… That alone blew me up. She’s experienced something different.)
“Trust begins to emerge when we have a sense that another person or organization is driven by things other than their own self-gain.”
(Just like the other statement.)
“If the people inside a company are told to come to work and just do their job, that’s all they will do. If they are constantly reminded WHY the company was founded and told to always look for ways to bring that cause to life while performing their job, however, then they will do more than their job.”
(A deep lesson for company owners and you too if you want to own businesses.)
“When people come to work with a higher sense of purpose, they find it easier to weather hard times or even to find opportunity in those hard times.”
(On my post, three days ago, I said something like that. Those who will thrive in this times are those with a compelling vision.)
“Clarity of purpose, cause or belief is important, but it is equally important that people hear you.”
(Yes! I’ve been waiting for this. If you have a WHY, people need to know about it. Allow it to show. There is the natural energy that releases it to people that come around you but beyond that, we need to add to that aura and that can include our social media presence. Who knows about your WHY? You see this blog, I’m using it to express my WHY.)
“For a WHY to have the power to move people it must not only be clear, it must be amplified to reach enough people to tip the scale.”
(Still like the last. That is why building a personal brand is important.)
Why personal branding is more important than ever for the C-suite.
“A clear sense of WHY sets expectations. When we don’t know an organization’s WHY, we don’t know what to expect, so we expect the minimum—price, quality, service, features—the commodity stuff. But when we do have a sense for the WHY, we expect more.”
(This is vital for entrepreneurs. Don’t look back! Remember, today’s employees are hybrids. I call them entreployees. They possess the entrepreneur’s nature.)
“A symbol cannot have any deep meaning until we know WHY it exists in terms bigger than simply to identify the company.”
“For a logo to become a symbol, people must be inspired to use that logo to say something about who they are.”
“If WHAT you do doesn’t prove what you believe, then no one will know what your WHY is and you’ll be forced to compete on price, service, quality, features and benefits; the stuff of commodities.”
(Crystal truth. Clearly stated. The reason you are competing is because you don’t know your WHY.)
“It is not just WHAT or HOW you do things that matters; what matters more is that WHAT and HOW you do things is consistent with your WHY.”
(Another resonance!)
“‘If a company tries too many times to “seize market opportunities” inconsistent with their WHY over time, their WHY will go fuzzy and their ability to inspire and command loyalty will deteriorate.'”
(What do people around you know you with today? Is it the same three years ago? Will it be the same five years from now?)
“Achievement comes when you pursue and attain WHAT you want. Success comes when you are clear in pursuit of WHY you want it.”
(This is game over!)
“For passion to survive, it needs structure. A WHY without the HOWs, passion without structure, has a very high probability of failure.”
(So, your job should be one of the structures… You get it?)
“Finding WHY is a process of discovery, not invention.”
(Yeah. I say it this way, “Your WHY is never clear. It only gets clearer”.)
“There is a difference between running with all your heart with your eyes closed and running with all your heart with your eyes wide open.”
(I don’t know what to say here 😀. Help me in the comment area…)
“When you compete against everyone else, no one wants to help you. But when you compete against yourself, everyone wants to help you.”
(Game over 2.0!… Lol…)
“What if we showed up to work every day simply to be better than ourselves? What if the goal was to do better work this week than we did the week before? To make this month better than last month? For no other reason than because we want to leave the organization in a better state than we found it?”
(Read it again: “What if I showed up…?”)
Finally, do you have a WHY for the job you do?
I can hear someone say, “Should I leave my job because I don’t have a WHY?”
Well, we’ll look at that tomorrow.
What should I do when my job does not connect with my WHY?
The Nicheployee Blog 