Finding the How to your Why
After lots of people recommending it, I finally bought Simon Sineks’s international bestseller, Starting with Why.
The signs were looking good when I opened the book to see the inscription read:
To Victoria
Who finds good ideas and makes them great.
Coming up to nearly a year since I started my self-employed journey, this book came at a perfect time for me. I’ve been fortunate in that since I made the decision to go it alone, I’ve had a steady stream of business coming in, and over the last 10 months developed some fantastic relationships with clients and enjoyed getting to know them, their businesses and their very different industries. It’s all been pretty much a whirlwind with very little time to stop and think about my why. I know what I’m doing absolutely, and I know how to do it, but why? With the reason me setting up Bevic being one out of circumstance rather than desire, it feels like this part of the puzzle had been somewhat missing.
However, this latest read has really clarified what it is that I love about my job. What I’m motivated by and real reason behind Bevic – something I knew from day one but didn’t even realise it!
I love seeing business owners happy. I get a real buzz knowing what I’m doing is making those who I am doing it for have a big smile on their face. Whether that’s through raising profiles, increasing profits or developing effective partnerships, I use my skills to develop targeted and creative marketing and communications, to make people happy. And this is what I’ve enjoyed throughout my whole career.
When I first stated building my website, I created an image to use on the home page which had a poster in it which stated, ‘Be Happy, Be Fab, BeVic’. Without knowing it, I’d set out my ‘why’ from the onset.
What’s also been interesting for me through reading the book is the understanding that I’m a ‘How’ person. For those who haven’t read Sinek’s seminal work, it explains how there’s lots of CEOs/Entrepreneurs that can be described as ‘Why’ people; the visionaries and leaders. Think the Walt Disney’s and Steve Jobs of the world. However, behind every successful ‘Why’ character, is a strong ‘How’. Someone who believes and buys in to what the ‘Why’ person stands for and wants to achieve. They make it happen through operations, finance, marketing, HR. As Disney had Roy and Jobs had Wozniak, the partnership enabled the businesses to achieve huge success, which arguably wouldn’t have happened without each other.
Whatever organisation, those leading the charge and having a clear purpose of why, play a key role in the success or failure of any business. Having a team that believes they can run with your vision and make the magic happen is what will really make a difference and not only put a big smile on your face, but your customers too!