Work on Your Company's "Why?" and Succeed
- Thursday, 26 January 2017
It was 2009 when Simon Sinek participated in a TEDx talk. He talked about the "Golden Circle" and the power of defining your company's "Why?". In a world in which innovation is increasingly turning into a commodity, people need a more emotional incentive to cooperate and buy from you. If you aren't sure of your company's "Why?" or you simply have not thought about it, this article is for you.
Simon Sinek is one of the most inspirational authors in the latter years. His books and talks are about leadership and the results it brings to the table for individuals and companies alike. If you haven't watched it yet, here is his TEDx talk from back in 2009. Here are the takeaways from this video and how you can implement them in your construction company:
People don't buy "What?", they buy "Why?"
One of the opening concepts from Sinek's talk is that people don't buy the "What?" of a company, but their "Why?". In other words, the "what you sell" message is a rational commodity. If you want to raise the bar, then you must go deeper into an emotional level that can inspire the public into buying your product or service.
Understanding reason vs emotion
When a company starts spreading a message that can reach our limbic system, or in other words spark an emotion in its end user or customer, then they are in it for the big win. In a world filled with marketing messages, reason won't make you stand out.
Your team must believe in you and your company
Emotion doesn't just go for customers and users, but for employees and team members as well. If an employee goes every day to work just to count the hours and minutes before she has to go home, her results won't be nearly as good as those coming from a person who believes in your company.
Samuel Pierpont Langley vs the Wright Brothers
Sinek illustrates this point by comparing Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright Brothers. In short, Langley had all the resources and support from the government to come up with a flying machine. In the end, the Wright Brothers who were bootstrapping money from their bike shop to finance their invention won. It was their belief, not their resources that got them the gold.
How to "Cross the Chasm"
According to Sinek, the key to achieving this is first to seduce innovators and early adopter. Then, mass markets will follow. It is the gap between these two larger groups that is demonstrated in Geoffrey Moore's "Crossing the Chasm" Your construction company needs to find its "Why?", its core believes, and then use them to spread their services to like-minded clients.