In the book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, best-selling authors Jim Collins and Jerry Porras say these in the introduction:

“Contrary to popular wisdom, the proper first response to a changing world is not to ask, ‘How should we change?’ but rather to ask, ‘What do we stand for and why do we exist?”

“Who am I? What do I stand for? What is my purpose? How do I maintain my sense of Self in this chaotic, unpredictable world?  How do I infuse meaning into my life and work? How do I remain renewed, engaged, and stimulated?’ These questions challenge us at least as much, or perhaps more so, today as ever before… it is better to understand who you are than where you are going—for where you are going will almost certainly change.”

Similarly, in his hit TED talk, “How great leaders inspire action” best-selling author and public speaker Simon Sinek talks about “The Golden Circle” where companies define their Why, before their How and their What.

Sinek says:

“Every single person, every single organization on the planet knows WHAT they do—100 percent. Some know HOW they do it—whether you call it your differentiating value proposition or your proprietary process or your USP. But very, very few people or organizations know WHY they do what they do. By ‘why’ I don’t mean, ‘Make a profit,’—that’s a result; it’s always a result. By ‘why’, I mean, ‘What’s your purpose? What’s your cause? What’s your belief? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? And why should anyone care?’”

Who are you?

What do you stand for?

What is your purpose?

Why do you get out of bed in the morning?

Why should anyone care?

Difficult questions, I would say. But extremely, extremely necessary.

* * *

Imagine: Collins and Porras had written the three editions of Built to Last between 1994 and 2002—waaaaay before social media, the startups that we know today, and massively available artificial intelligence exploded into the market. Yet they were already talking about a “chaotic, unpredictable world.” In recent years, the word “disruption” is now the order of the day, and we see huge companies being threatened by these agile upstarts that can do things more rapidly and more efficiently than ever before—sometimes, with just a swipe of a smartphone—and for a new generation of consumers that just want everything now, now, now.

Even professionals who thought that their jobs would be secure for close-to-forever are now being threatened by massive automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning—or simply by outsourcing (to countries like ours).

Everyone—not just companies—is at risk of being “disrupted” or of being made irrelevant.

Unless, of course, you know EXACTLY WHY you exist, exactly why you are who you are and you do what you do, and you know what you stand for amid the changing times.

Without this solid bedrock of PURPOSE, it will be easy to try to adapt and change and go with the changing times, but also lose yourself along the way.

Let’s pause for a moment there, and take a deep breath.

Again, let us put some of these questions up here:

Who are you?

What do you stand for?

What is your purpose?

Why do you get out of bed in the morning?

Why should anyone care?

* * *

As leaders—whether of companies we work for, of our own businesses, and certainly of our own lives—we need to ask ourselves these questions before we even plunge into the New Year frenzy of goal-setting and planning.

Knowing our own Why makes it easier to design the best goals and the best lifestyle for ourselves. Knowing our own Why makes it clearer to see which goals and resolutions fit, and which are just fluff. Knowing our own Why allows us to focus and zero in on the highest priority matters, instead of giving in to trends and distractions and, worse, what others think we should do.

Knowing our own Why makes us more centered and grounded, more mindful and purposeful, and also, more effective.

For both the team of Collins and Porras, and Sinek, knowing your purpose and your Why is one key secret to relevance, longevity, and success—not just of great organisations, but also (and more importantly) of great leaders.

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