Leaders & Business Owners hold and drive the Purpose: The WHO defines the WHY

I’m sure many of you will have come across Simon Sinek’s work, ‘Start with Why’ in which he makes a powerful argument for companies to have purpose at the centre of everything they do.  While I have always shared the same ethos and have made sure that a company’s ‘why’ is represented in any content I have produced for them, I have now come to the realisation that the ‘Why’ on it’s own is not enough…..

Over the past 18 months I have been devising and trialing a new process that helps clients define the characteristics that truly identify them as being unique and different in the market place – their Brand Essence.  By taking a number of companies through the process I have discovered that while the ‘Why’, or purpose, is a crucial component in it’s Brand Essence, there is an additional component, the ‘Who’ that defines the purpose and determines the business approach of how the purpose is achieved:

Think about how the personality, passion and belief of one man, Steve Jobs was the driving force behind the success of Apple.

Think of how Richard Branson’s personal beliefs and values underpin the whole of the Virgin brand.

Two competing companies might share a very similar purpose, but when you add into the mix the personality of the leader or leadership team the resulting Brand Essence is exclusive to that company, and defines it.  The ‘Who’ will usually be the business owner or CEO, however I have worked with one company where two executive directors jointly ‘held’ the purpose and took all major decisions together.

The WHO defines the WHY, and the combined Brand Essence determines HOW the company operates and WHAT products/services/processes/people are the best fit with the brand and therefore most likely to succeed.

Of course leaders change, and following this model, when a leader changes there is also likely to be a shift in the brand essence. How many companies do you know of who have had a change in CEO followed by a complete change in ‘feel’ and direction, and subsequently lost their way?

The ‘Who’ defines the ‘Why’

I believe that every company, no matter what size, has a Brand Essence based on a combination of its ‘who’ and ‘why’. The problem is that most companies are created around an initial product or service offering and never make the time to step outside the business to discover it.

If every company takes the time to discover and define it’s Brand Essence, not only will this give it powerful information to promote and sell it’s products from a position of difference in the market place, it will also have valuable information to ensure that it recruits new leaders and staff who are a good fit with the key drivers of the brand.

If you need help to discover and articulate your ‘Who’ and ‘Why’  please give me a call