What is my WHY?
"People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe"
-Simon Sinek
As John Kotter (2011) repeatedly mentions in his “Heart of Change” video, we must “win over the hearts and minds” of our organization if we want to make a significant change. To get our stakeholders on board, we must win over their hearts by connecting with them on an emotional level. People are motivated from the heart. If we can get our stakeholders’ hearts on board, change will be inevitable. The first thing I’d do is show our Call to Action video, which will definitely tug at their heartstrings.
We can follow by engaging their minds and show them how we’re going to make this significant change happen. Simon Sinek (2009) supports the belief that “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” He encourages people who want to make a change to "start with the WHY". Why do we do what we do? Like Sinek (2009) says, all employees know WHAT they do 100%. Some know HOW they do it, but very few people or organizations know WHY they do what they do. It’s up to us to establish the need for change by creating a sense of urgency in our organization. Kotter (2013) states, “when starting a major change, the first step is getting the sense of urgency up, and complacency down…Creating a sense of urgency builds a foundation for change.” This means that we need to lower people’s anxieties and fears that come with the thought of change and make them feel the importance of it. If urgency isn’t created, it’ll just end up on the back-burner, and change will not be made.
