Start with why

5
CLARITY, DISCIPLINE AND CONSISTENCY
Nature abhors a vacuum. In order to promote life, Mother Nature attempts to
find balance whenever possible. When life is destroyed because of a forest fire,
for example, nature will introduce new life to replace it. The existence of a food
chain in any ecosystem, in which each animal exists as food for another, is a way
of maintaining balance. The Golden Circle, grounded in natural principles of
biology, obeys the need for balance as well. As I’ve discussed, when the WHY
is absent, imbalance is produced and manipulations thrive. And when
manipulations thrive, uncertainty increases for buyers, instability increases for
sellers and stress increases for all.
Starting with WHY is just the beginning. There is still work to be done before
a person or an organization earns the right or ability to inspire. For The Golden
Circle to work, each of the pieces must be in balance and in the right order.

---

Clarity of WHY
It all starts with clarity. You have to know WHY you do WHAT you do. If
people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it, so it follows that if
you don’t know WHY you do WHAT you do, how will anyone else? If the
leader of the organization can’t clearly articulate WHY the organization exists in
terms beyond its products or services, then how does he expect the employees to
know WHY to come to work? If a politician can’t articulate WHY she seeks
public office beyond the standard “to serve the people” (the minimum rational
standard for all politicians), then how will the voters know whom to follow?
Manipulations can motivate the outcome of an election, but they don’t help
choose who should lead. To lead requires those who willingly follow. It requires
those who believe in something bigger than a single issue. To inspire starts with
the clarity of WHY.

---