ife is going at such a blurring pace that it often makes everything around us seem fuzzy and out of focus. Have you ever had that feeling? As we travel around the country and globe working with clients in widely diverse industries and settings, this blur seems to be almost universally prevalent. It is particularly profound in situations where the VUCA world has been especially disruptive, or where the leadership strength is noticeably lacking … it is usually a combination of both conditions.
This past year, I have enjoyed watching a collection of videos and reading the first book of an emerging author and internationally acclaimed speaker named Simon Sinek. His bestselling book and presentation at the TED productions called “How Great Leaders Inspire Others” is now the 19th most watched TED video ever! Both can be found at his website http://www.startwithwhy.com which includes other content and provides some very meaningful perspective that brings greater clarity to the blurriness described above including a discussion on what Sinek calls The Golden Circle illustrated here.
Sinek does a very nice job of framing the differentiation that distinguishes great, inspiring leaders and organizations from the norm … they all start with WHY. For Sinek, building strong connectivity to the WHY in each of our lives and for each organization is what ignites great passion and creates an enduring source of positive energy for all who “get it”. The enriching
POWER OF WHY is found when we are all able to reach the fresh awareness and understanding of the vision and purpose for what we do … as a person, leader or organization.
One of my lifelong passions passed down from my career Navy, sailboat loving father is serving as captain to a crew of family and friends on 40’+ sailboats in nice places like the Chesapeake Bay or the British Virgin Islands. My father has been gone for more than twenty years now but many of the lessons I learned from him on our frequent weekend sailing excursions on the Chesapeake Bay remain. Any good sailor knows that one of the most important features of a sound sailing vessel heading into volatile, turbulent conditions … is the keel. The keel provides the counterweight that transforms the force captured from headwinds into the sails propelling forward motion. The absence of a keel would cause the sailboat to either capsize under heavy conditions or simply wander aimlessly since navigation depends on the keel. In many ways, having clarity about our core purpose and values (WHY) provides a keel for navigating ourselves and our organizations in a VUCA world.
The WHY at Agility Consulting is based on our passion for helping client organizations and leaders adapt and thrive in this VUCA world – where we know that leaders and organization MUST adapt and change or be left behind. Our HOW is embodied in The Agile Model® which is a validated best practice model recognized in professional literature as “the most effective leadership model for our changing times”. The WHAT we do is captured in our portfolio of products and services that help our leaders and organizations compete more successfully in this VUCA world because they are focused, fast and flexible.
Take a few minutes and outline the WHY, HOW and WHAT for you as a person, leader and for your organization … if you have one.
