Catching
up with a colleague over a teh tarik is by far one of my favourite ways of
working. It is relaxing, enjoyable and when it ends, a spark of an idea always gets
lit. The idea that day was life
directions and how it was akin to branding a corporation.
When I facilitate a branding process with my clients, I always ask them what the core purpose of their business is. Many of them immediately start rolling out the obvious functional aspect, i.e. ‘I sell this’ or ‘I provide solutions’. And so I get them to drill down deeper as to why their companies exist at all. What was the main reason that got them here? What was the impending need that galvanised them to start a company and become an entrepreneur? My amazingly creative colleague then said, actually to get to that question, you really have to know who you are and what drives you. You have to know what your purpose in life is.
When I facilitate a branding process with my clients, I always ask them what the core purpose of their business is. Many of them immediately start rolling out the obvious functional aspect, i.e. ‘I sell this’ or ‘I provide solutions’. And so I get them to drill down deeper as to why their companies exist at all. What was the main reason that got them here? What was the impending need that galvanised them to start a company and become an entrepreneur? My amazingly creative colleague then said, actually to get to that question, you really have to know who you are and what drives you. You have to know what your purpose in life is.
Simon
Sinek, asks us to "Start With Why": and has even
written a book about it. For the longest time, I knew that my path lay in service. But I
mistakenly read this as saving the world and doing projects that were much
larger than what I could handle.
