July: What's your WHY?
Start Q3 with mission alignment
Now that we’re halfway through the year, it’s a great time to take a more meta look at our businesses. There’s no practical accounting system that you can apply in this newsletter; rather we’ll reflect on why you’re really in business, possibly rearrange some priorities accordingly, then explore how to harness the very human desire to be a part of something bigger than oneself. Clarity on your authentic “Why” is a uniquely powerful way to inspire exceptional human effort from your team and resolute loyalty from your customers.
July Housekeeping:
None! Pick up the book that inspired this post, Start with Why by Simon Sinek on audio or hardcover for a great read by the pool or beach this summer.
Start With Why
In his book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek describes the Golden Circle, pictured below.
The outer ring describes What your business does: selling products or services and the features that make them stand out from the crowd.
The middle ring describes How you do it: your systems & processes that you use to deliver your product or service.
The center circle represents Why you do it.
The first 2 rings are easy to define. It’s likely that you can easily describe what you sell and some of the processes that you’ve built to produce that item or service. The Why can be more tricky, as many business owners haven’t reflected enough on it to come up with a fluent response.
Sinek quickly eliminates money as an acceptable Why. Money is a result and there are LOTS of ways to earn money. Entrepreneurship is easily one of the most challenging ways to do it, so most logical and rational people wouldn’t choose this high probability of failure.. yet here we are - a bunch of business owners - so why did you choose this illogical and irrational path?
Money is certainly required. Business owners and employees all need to earn a living, or the business shuts down and everyone goes home. But while money is critical, it will never inspire exceptional human effort or resolute loyalty. On the contrary, if your team is only here for their paycheck, or if your customers only buy from you because your prices are so low, you’re nearly guaranteed to lose both when an even slightly better deal comes along.
To be crystal clear, I am not suggesting that anyone sacrifice wealth in the name of their just cause. I plan to get MacKenzie Scott-rich so that I have the resources to support the global changes that are so important to me. I agree with Wallace Wattles when he writes in his book The Science of Getting Rich:
“WHATEVER may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich.”
"You can help others more by making the most of yourself than in any other way.”
I want to see all my like-minded clients get super rich with me, but getting rich doesn’t meet the criteria for a Why.
Your Why, in contrast, should be more of your identity. Not something that you necessarily decided on, but more like something that comes from within… a just cause that’s bigger than yourself. It can feel uncomfortable, vulnerable, to say it out loud at first but this authenticity will inspire customers and employees alike.
Companies with a clear Why use that Why to make all their decisions. What they sell is proof of their Why. Sinek often uses Apple as an example of a company with a clear sense of Why.
Sinek describes how Apple started as a computer company but their Why was always about using personal power to challenge the status quo. Everything they’ve created has been a tangible manifestation of this Why. Staying focused on their Why - and not on being a computer company - is how they pivoted so seamlessly to dominate the music industry with iTunes and then the cell phone industry with the iPhone. Every time they entered a new market, their products proved their Why- by challenging the status quo and giving more power to the individual. Dell, on the other hand, has always defined itself by What it sells, and as long as it does, it will never be more than a computer company.
More Neurobiology
We touched on the plasticity of the Anterior Midcingulate Cortex in March’s newsletter on struggle and tenacity Let’s bounce back to neurobiology as it relates to the Golden Circle.
Sinek points out similarities between brain structure and his Golden Circle. The newest part of our brain, the neocortex, is the rational part of the brain responsible for problem solving and processing tons of data. It’s also physically tied to the language center, so it’s easy to articulate how we rationalize and problem solve. The neocortex correlates with the outer What ring on the Golden Circle, which represents the product or service the business produces and the features that make it different.
Set deeper in the brain, the limbic system controls our emotions like trust and loyalty, and is the true driver of decision making. This region corresponds with the center Why in the Golden Circle. There’s no limbic attachment to the language center of the brain, so it’s difficult for us to articulate an emotion that we’re feeling “in our gut”. Have you ever heard the adage, “people buy from emotion and rationalize with logic’’? This holds up to biology and the Golden Circle. Since emotion is the real driver of decision making, customers are buying your Why and using your What features to rationalize their choice.
“People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it”.
-Simon Sinek
Consumers Evolved for a Why
As a social species, we’ve evolved to seek out and stay with our “crew” - people who share our values and beliefs. This human desire to belong originates in the amygdala - oldest part of the human brain, often called the “reptilian brain” -within the limbic system, and it is incredibly powerful. When you lead with your Why, you will naturally attract both the customers and employees most aligned with your authentic purpose because you’ll activate their amygdalas.
Take me as the consumer, for example. I am a bit of a hippie type. I’m deeply concerned with conservation, making most purchase decisions based on sustainability. I’m also pretty active outside; I snowboard in the winter and do yoga. And I’m a mom, so I’m wired to protect my family.
Can you guess what car I drive??
A Subaru Ascent, and I FUCKING LOVE IT
My neocortex lists logical Whats to articulate my love for TalonXinnia (that’s her name) This list includes:
Subaru’s Zero waste assembly plant in Indiana
Exceptional gas mileage despite being 3 row, full size SUV with AWD
All wheel drive
Tons of cabin space and roof rack for dog/kid/outdoor activity gear
Sexy beast
But in reality - if I’m really vulnerable and honest - I feel like Subaru is my crew. It turns out that my Subaru is a What to my consumer Why. There are lots of car brands that check all those boxes I listed above, but I doubt I’ll ever buy another car that isn’t a Subaru. I’m drawn to them because their Whats consistently prove their Why.
I didn’t even know their mission statement until I started writing this newsletter…
“Subaru of America is committed to building vehicles our customers can rely on while being a part of a greater good.”
... but I’m not even a little surprised. Their branding, their products and their corporate responsibility are all so consistent that I feel like I can trust them, AND I want to be associated with them because I like what owning a Subaru says about me.
IQBK’s WHY:
We’re here to empower small business owners with the financial data necessary for their businesses to thrive, in order to build a community of empowered people that will effect social and environmental change.
While this statement has shifted slightly over the past few years, the sentiment remains intact. But I admit I haven’t always been comfortable saying it out loud. I’m finding the more I talk about our Why, the more I get vulnerable and share it with the world, the more like-minded businesses and employees I attract.
Does our Why resonate with you? Let’s chat about it!
Some might say that I'm not thinking big enough; that one small-business owner empowering other mission-aligned businesses can't possibly have an effect on the world. At the scale of the global problems that I care about, some might say my effort amounts to no more than a Band-Aid. But when I think about that, I remind myself of what Malcolm Gladwell says in The Tipping Point":
“A critic looking at these tightly focused, targeted interventions might dismiss them as Band-Aid solutions. But that phrase should not be considered a term of disparagement. The Band-Aid is an inexpensive, convenient, and remarkably versatile solution to an astonishing array of problems. In their history, Band-Aids have probably allowed millions of people to keep working or playing tennis or cooking or walking when they would otherwise have had to stop. The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.”
If we all reflect on our Why, and choose to be brave enough to share it and live out in our businesses, that myriad of “Band-Aid” solutions will have a remarkable impact on the world. Perhaps real global fixes actually depend on all us living out our tiny Whys in unison.
IQBK Client Highlight: Vanderwall Immigration
Vanderwall Immigration is our posterchild for a wildly successful business with a just cause. We have been supporting them for 4 years and it’s been a privilege to be on this rocket trajectory with them as they reunite more and more families!
Vanderwall Vision: to provide everyone with a fair opportunity to achieve their immigration dream through competent and compassionate advocacy.
We work hard to provide high-quality immigration services at affordable prices, so that you can achieve your immigration goals. Our mission is to unite families through our immigration services.
We each come from immigrant families, so we understand from personal experience how complicated and stressful the immigration process can be in the United States. We strive to show you how much we care about you and your family.
We provide open and clear communication with fixed fees and flexible payment plans, so you know exactly how much you will have to pay, and there will be no hidden fees or surprise costs.
We serve clients from all over Oregon and Washington and from around the world. We would be glad to meet with you and your family to discuss how we can help you achieve your dreams.
Check them out on their website or on Facebook!
Thanks for reading!
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