Entrepreneurs: Do you have a why or just a what and how?
In a previous blog, I wrote about the importance of establishing a core value in your business. As Simon Sinek puts it in his book Start With Why, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Your why is that core value, the steadfast principle that is your reason for doing what you do. You can also think of it as your (current or life) mission, vision, or purpose.
When asking entrepreneurs about their why, I often hear them describe their customer service or their product quality. Those are important values to have, but they usually describe what they do or how they do it. Being the biggest or best in your field, making excellent products, having a live person answer calls. . . all great. I’m talking about the core fabric of why you have the business. No, it’s not to make a profit. That’s a goal or result.
Look at the tagline or ubiquitous message of companies. One law firm ends it’s commercials with “Our passion is justice.” Well, duh! You’re lawyers! That’s equivalent to a CPA firm saying “Our passion is accuracy” or a software company saying “Our passion is productivity.” Those are all examples of what they do, not why they do it.
Do you have a passion for making peoples’ lives better? Are you on a mission to solve your customer’s problem? Here are a couple examples that illustrate a why:
A tagline seen on Apple’s website: “Technology is most powerful when it empowers everyone.” Apple was founded on the principle of helping people manage their lives better. Innovation is their how, technology is their what. Making lives better is their why.
I recently did some writing for Sunrise Medical. They make great wheelchairs. On all their digital and printed material, you’ll find the words “Improving People’s Lives.” Their products are the what, their custom designs, community engagement, and environmental contributions are the how. Improving people’s lives is why they do what they do.
Even though quality of product or depth of service is the what or how, one (or both) of these can illustrate or support your why. For example, values around honesty, respect for others, or work ethic will have elements of excellent quality and/or exemplary service. For example:
Respect for others: Your why might be “creating and spreading mutual trust and respect.” Tell the world how you build and maintain trust through unconditional guarantee of product quality. Invoke the golden rule by treating every customer interaction as if it’s the most important event you’ll encounter this week. Other principles could include environmental issues or a focus on social responsibility.
Work ethic: a good principle I’ve seen involving work ethic is “we work hard and we play hard.” Employees in a company with that value work diligently and intensely, but they also reward themselves when a project is completed and enjoy their time away from work. The why is creating balance in the lives of employees and customers. You do that (the how) through exemplary customer service and recognition that work (the what) is but one part of life. If I work hard for you, solve your problem, we can both enjoy life, at work and at play.
As noted in the previous blog in order for your core value to be rock solid, you must do two things. First, the message must be a part of everything you do and say – marketing, customer interactions, employee handbooks, training curriculum… everything! The second absolute is not as easy to implement and maintain. That is, to empower employees – not just with the authority to act, but also with unquestioning support. More on that in the next blog. You can take a deeper dive into establishing your why in Beyond the Numbers: 5 Key Factors that Impact an Entrepreneur’s life.
For this time, make sure you understand and embrace the differences between your what, how, and why.