EmpowerYou Vision:
EmpowerYou Values:
This vision and related values allow me (and anyone else who may join my organisation) to:
- Stay aligned to the core purpose and beliefs around EmpowerYou.
- Create an identity and a sense of uniqueness.
- Ensure the short and long term goals are achieved over time.
- Keep me on track and accountable when working with groups, businesses and organisations.
Developing the EmpowerYou. vision and values was a process that occurred over a period of time. The first part involved formulating a WHY. Sometimes people think a Vision and WHY are the same however they are very different. A WHY relates to our past and the patterns that have existed in life where we or our organisation has achieved success. It is the foundation of who we are. A vision relates to the future and where we are going.
Simon Sinek has been a huge proponent of the WHY movement across the world and uses Golden Circles to define a person or organisations WHY, HOW AND WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organisation and every person’s job/career operates on three levels: WHAT you do, HOW you do it, and WHY you do it. We all know WHAT we do (the goods we sell, the services we provide or the jobs we are involved in). Some of us know HOW we do it (the things that we think make us stand apart from others) however, sometimes people find it difficult to clearly articulate WHY they do what we do.
Herein lies a problem. If people working in an organisation don’t understand WHY they do what they do, what purpose do they have in that organisation? Work soon becomes a means to an end. Life can be and should be better than this! Also as I mentioned before, consumers are often not drawn to organisations who can’t articulate their WHY and what stands them apart from their competitors.
In terms of the organisational structure of the Golden Circle approach, Sinek makes it clear that when using this framework we always need to start from the inside (WHY) and move out to the WHAT. When people are clear about WHY you do what you do, they are more likely to engage and interact with you or your organisation or buy your goods and services.
“People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it”.
Simon Sinek
Why is it important to define your WHY?
Discovering the WHY injects passion into people’s work. When your employees know your organisation’s clear purpose, they will come to work knowing exactly what the organisation is about and more importantly aiming for. This, of course, creates alignment, energy and enthusiasm.
When employees can clearly articulate their organisations WHY it creates amazing collaborative opportunities to learn and continually improve. This is because how we feel about something or someone is more powerful than what we think about it or them. Being aligned to organisations WHY allows for greater ‘buy-in’ especially when changes are being made.
Here is the EmpowerYou current Golden Circle outlining our WHY, HOW AND WHAT.
