Start With Why: Answering the question "What do you do?"

One of the most difficult questions we ever get asked is, what do you do?

We usually tell people what we do, I'm a manager at you know some widget company and nobody really cares because nobody cares what you do and so we're supposed to answer the question of why we do what we do that just takes practice again.

So, let me give you a couple of examples of how it worked I found myself at a meeting once it was actually a social event held at an organization and I was talking to one of the guys and telling him about stuff that I do and he says you've got to tell the boss I said okay and so he walked me over to the big guy and he doesn't even make an introduction he just leaves me standing there and walks away and the guy turns to me goes who are you now if I wasn't starting with why. I say hi my name is Simon and I have a consultancy and I speak and I teach a knight and I'm an author and I and I go through all the things that I've done.

All the people I work with and maybe some of my clients all in an attempt to tell him Who I am and why you should listen to me but then he would have just sort of pointed to the chips and said nice to meet you you know but I didn't say that I looked in the eye and I said I wake up every single day to inspire people to do what inspires them and I know that your company is trying to increase the number of customers it's getting in one particular sector and the question is are you inspiring people to do it because the only way people will give you loyalties.

If you inspire them to do so I teach leaders and organizations how to inspire people that's all I said I didn't tell them what I did I didn't tell them who I knew I didn't tell him any of my clients and he said to me looks over to me says you have a business card I handed them a business card and I told them all the details later don't forget a why doesn't close the deal it just opens it allows people in it gets context you know all of these things need to work together why you do what you do how you do things in what you do I don't for one second believe the why is more important than any of the other pieces.

It's just the place we have to start and it's also the place we so often forget to even include so learning to start with why really is especially in a business context when you're interviewing for a job or pitching your services to someone it really is remarkable I get so many letters from people you know all excited that they went into a pit they went into a job interview and they started with why and they were so excited that not only did they get the job but the person who hired them actually saying we love dot dot dot and they repeat their way back to them they don't talk about their qualifications or any of these things, in other words, it really does drive human behavior and the more you get good at it the more you start to feel and see the results of starting with the wife.