Find Your Why: a practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team pdfdrive com

CHAPTER 7
Take a Stand
Do the Things You Say You Believe

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DANGER! DANGER!: Once
you know your WHY, you have a
choice to live it every day. Living
it means consistently taking
actions that are in alignment
with the things you say. If you
say one thing and do another
Taking the time to discover our WHY and articulate our HOWs is simply how
we begin the journey. Next comes the hard part. We have to act on them. We
have to bring them to life. We have to share them.
Share Your WHY
Just knowing our WHY doesn’t mean we instantly feel comfortable sharing it. In
fact, most of us have been communicating with our WHATs—as we’ve been
shown to do—for our whole lives. It’s what we’ve been taught. It’s what has
been modeled to us. You may find it a serious challenge to communicate your
purpose, cause or belief to others. If so, you’re not alone!
Remember learning to ride a bike? You felt awkward at first. Each time you got
back on, you focused on a different tactic all the while trying to stay balanced.
You were lifting your feet at different times, trying the brakes at various
pressures and struggling to look where you wanted to go, all the while
preoccupied by what your limbs should be doing. It’s likely you fell off a few
times, but you got back on the bike and tried again . . . and again . . . and again.
And soon you were flying down the road without even thinking about it. Starting
with WHY is no different. Once you get the hang of it, it’s as natural as riding a
bike.
We find that the best place to practice is among strangers. When meeting
someone for the first time, they almost always ask, “What do you do?” This is
your opportunity to start with WHY. From this point forward, strangers on
planes, chitchatters at cocktail parties and everyone in between represent your
metaphorical bicycle.
While you can recite your Why Statement word for
word, you can also try variations of your statement
and stories to help it give meaning to others.
Simon, for example, might say, “I inspire people to
do things that inspire them, so that, together, we

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too frequently, you will lose the
trust of others. Our actions
either add to or take away from
the trust and loyalty others feel
toward us. When the things we
say and the things we do are
aligned with what we believe,
we are fully living our WHY. Will
you choose to take a stand?
can change our world.” This is his Why Statement
word for word. He sometimes says, “I work with
leaders to build inspiring organizations that put
people first. I believe that if enough organizations
do this, we will change our world.” He often uses
our vision statement to begin a conversation. If he’s
talking about Start With Why, our organization,
he’ll say, “We imagine a world where the vast majority of people wake up
inspired to go to work, feel safe when they are there and return home at the end
of the day fulfilled by the work they do. Every product we make, every