Why starts with YOU.

I’m sitting here today on a glorious Arizona Sunday. I’ve just finished Simon Sinek’s book “Start With Why” for the second time…I’m a slow learner, and of course it’s now full of margin notes, green, yellow, and orange highlighter…and dog-eared pages. As I reflect on his work of ART…and yes, I do consider his book ART, it’s his gift, his talent that he has chosen to share with us, I’m struck by my own predicament, what’s my WHY?

People, just like organizations, can split from their Why and yes, get fuzzy. Has that happened to me? I do believe that when we are growing up, we change our minds, many times, when asked…”What do you want to be when you grow up?” I would always base my answer on what I thought I was good at, excelled at, or just out right liked to do? I never thought about my WHY, my purpose, my reason for being, my values and beliefs. But, as we move from grade school, to high school, and some of us onto college and higher education….we start to evolve. We start to learn about the world, it’s people, it’s politics, and we start to decide for ourselves what our Cause is, what our Beliefs are, and just How we want to Make a Difference.

Sometimes, just watching a commercial about the AZ Humane Society can make me cry, and ache for the animals on the screen. I have a compelling need to help. Someday, I’ll make the commitment, I’ll embellish my cause, my crusade for the animals. It’s not just animals, however. I’m like this whenever I see a need, a suffering, a wrong, an abuse.

It’s my belief that most of us out there are like this. We may have a push-pull going on inside us. We have passions, and causes, and hopes, and dreams….but, in our real world, we have work. Maybe we all think that someday, we’ll be able to live out our true selves, our true beliefs, and for the time being we just have to get by, make some money, pay the bills, and later…much later, when we have time, we’ll return to our purpose, our passion, our WHY. Hummmm…somehow, this just doesn’t feel right.

I’ll always remember one of the most famous conversations in The Graduate….when Dustin Hoffman…fresh out of law school starts to talk with Elaine’s Dad…He recommends an industry for Dustin to get involved in …Plastics…that’s the Future, he says. I noticed the look on Dustin’s face….it screams, get me out of here, thanks for the tip, but no thanks, I’m not going to be a cog in the wheel…and join the factory. But, that was the 60′s. It was the generation of change, rebellion, crusading for causes, for revolutionizing the way things were done, and for thinking WHAT’S Possible?

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer came out of this generation, although it may have been a few years after the Flower Power 60′s. They had a WHY…they had a crystal clear WHY…that except for a small blip, Apple Computer, it’s employees and its’ customers, all knew the WHY behind the Company. They embraced and bought the WHAT, because it was consistent with the WHY. Their customer’s could Trust their What because it aligned with their How and their Why. The WHY of Apple Computer is clear: To empower the dreamers and the idealists to challenge the status quo and succeed. Every product they’ve ever designed, has done just this. They know their customer’s and their customer’s love them for it. They are not the biggest technology company in the world, most people don’t want to challenge the status quo, but for the millions who do…Apple is the company that champions the creative spirit of the individual, and their products and services prove it.

But, the key is….Apple Computer’s WHY started long before Apple was born. It started with 2 men working out of Wozniak’s dorm room in 1971.

Apple will continue to challenge us with products that follow the early patterns of the Macintosh, the iPhone, and now the iPad, and we can’t wait to see what will come from them next! Apple’s success and ability has very little to do with industry expertise…many companies have talent, resources, and just as great of quality products. Apple’s success comes from a purpose, cause and belief that started many years ago with a couple of kids from California.

They never lost their WHY….and everything they did, how they structured the company, how they treated their employees, their customers, the experience they gave everyone was in alignment with their WHY….So, it follows that their WHAT, their products, should also be in alignment with their WHY…this is what makes Apple Computer so Authentic…and trusted. You believe, and you trust, because of their consistency of delivering their WHAT, based on their WHY. There is no FUZZY.

To create your why…you MUST look behind. You must look back. Even though it may be difficult. But, for me, right now, that’s what I need to do. To look back, at what I was, what I’ve become, and who I know I can be in the future. For me, it’s a little scary. I’ve always associated myself with someone else’s WHY. Even though I’ve been an Independent contractor, and have started LLC’s, etc. My Brand has been their Brand. Now, for the first time, in forever, we have an opportunity to tell people, customers, anyone that will listen, our WHY. We’ve got to use our Megaphone. We’ve got to be clear why we believe what we believe, what our purpose is for creating our little training and coaching company, and why we want to share it with you, the Innovator’s, the Early Adoptor’s, the left hand side of Moore’s Curve. You will be the ones to listen, to remark, to sneeze our why, to hear our clear “megaphone” voice. It’s scary, and exciting. What if I get it wrong? What if no one will want to buy my WHY? You know people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

I’ve got to stop second guessing myself. I’ve got to look myself straight in the eyes and ASK….just what are you scared of? Success? No, I’m not scared of success, I’m scared of failing. I read all the books, and I know “rationally” that failing is the only way we learn and grow…but, in the past, I’ve always been the one to succeed, to win, I’ve never really “failed” at something…until now. The past few months have been one failure after another. Maybe, I shouldn’t call them failures….but, they sure did feel like failures. Oh, we’ve learned a lot, we’ve created some amazing “what’s”….we’ve developed very sophisticated “how’s”. But you know what’s been missing? An undeniable, crystal clear WHY. People will ask me, what’s your motivation, your drive, your pull that enables you to get out of bed every morning and TRY to make a difference? WHY do you insist on trying to change the world, one company at a time? WHY do you want to learn all you can learn just to pass it on and share it with someone else? WHY is it so gratifying for you to see others excel, and reach for the stars, and you’re okay with knowing you had a small part in their success? The answer to all these questions, is because that’s what I was put on this beautiful earth for…I know my WHY…my WHY is to be there to support, to encourage, to catch you when you fall, to coach, to entertain, to challenge, to educate, and to revel in your success. For you see, your success becomes my success. My WHY, My How, My What are in balance with each other….there will be no FUZZINESS…no Split from My WHY. The company we are building has a STRONG WHY, a clear why….it will pass the Celery Test. It starts with ME. Thank you Simon Sinek…I’ve found my WHY.

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