Start with the Why...


If you want someone to agree with you, start with the Why…

So often we ask for things by starting with what we want, rather than why we want it…

'I want you to get ready for your swimming lesson'
rather than
'I think you'll be good enough to swim by yourself with your friends this summer holiday'

Or
'I want funding for a project'
rather than
'I believe we can create a better experience for our customers'…. 'Oh, and I need some money to fund it!'

People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it…

This week I learnt about Simon Sinek's Golden circle…

The theory is that you need to start with Why, then How and finally What, whereas so many of us start with What, then How and actually often forget about Why…

So what do we mean by starting with the Why?

It's all about the Purpose, your Beliefs, what Drives you.

Why are you having a 4 hours meeting?
Why do you need extra resource?
Why are you doing a presentation?
Why do you need funding?
Why do you go to work everyday?

We tend to spend 80% of our time explaining the rationale, however 80% of decisions are made by our emotions, so it's no surprise to hear that;

If you talk about what you believe, you will attract people who believe what you believe.

There's a reason why Martin Luther King started his speeches with 'I believe'…

For those that want to learn more, here's the link to the 18 min TED talk. 

Or if you're like me and 18 minutes feels far too long! Here's a link to the 5 minute cut down version...

I heard about this on Tuesday and by Wednesday I'd already put it into practice with amazing results… I was in a meeting where 10 people had struggled to define their project's purpose and the team's vision for a number of months…. So we spent 5 minutes watching the YouTube clip, then straight after went round saying why each of us was there, we called out the key themes / words and literally 5 minutes later we'd nailed the 2 Sentences summarising why the project was there and their 3 core principles.

So I set you a challenge, next time you ask for something, start with the Why.




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