Every now and then, I happen across something that hits home so profoundly that it causes me hours of reflecting on the way I’ve done things in the past, and even influences how I might do things in the future. Over the weekend, I happened across a blog entry written by Sir Richard Branson entitled Why all businesses should ask themselves ‘why’? Being a big fan of Mr. Branson and many of his brands, I read his article with great interest.
In his article, Sir Richard asks questions like “Why are some companies more innovative than others?”, and “Why do some businesses make it and others don’t?”. The answer quite surprisingly, comes from a gentleman by the name of Simon Sinek who gave a TEDx talk in 2010 entitled “How great leaders inspire action”.
In Simon’s talk, he tells his audience how “People don’t buy what you do; They buy why you do it.” He goes on to cite examples such as Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers. Why were these folks so successful when there were other companies and individuals out there who were better funded or equally qualified? The answer is in WHY you do what you do, and not WHAT you do, or HOW you do it. Like the Virgin Group, these folks knew WHY from the outset. They succeeded not because they were in pursuit of the mighty dollar, but rather because they had a cause, a goal that they believed in.
This is exemplified in the one commonality among all of the Virgin Group’s businesses: WHY they started in the first place. Sir Richard explains they’ve never gone into business solely to make money. Instead, they always started out to “create something that is missing from the market, to be disruptive and to have serious fun.”
This message struck home with me because CIP Reporting started, and has continued to operate with those very same goals in mind. This is embodied by the fact that not one of our employees at CIP awaken on Monday morning and dread going to work. In fact, we all come in early and leave late, every day. We often work on weekends when we don’t have to. Some of us even carry our laptops on vacation. Why? Because we love what we do, and that shows not only in our product, but also the relationships we’ve built and maintained with you, our ever-faithful customers. It shows in our customers’ loyalty to us and to our brand. It shows in our impassioned approach to customer service.
Simon goes on to say that “What you do simply serves as the proof of what you believe”. I couldn’t agree more, and I am duly encouraged by the fact that our little company operates under the same ideals that that Sir Richard and his Virgin Group operate under. It tells me we’re headed in the right direction.
http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/why-all-businesses-should-ask-themselves-why
About Larry Wimble
A veteran of all things technology, Larry brings over 30 years of engineering experience and has developed over 50 products, been issued 2 patents, and possesses proven management and leadership skills. Before joining CIP Reporting as the VP of Engineering, Larry owned and operated two successful contract engineering firms for better than 10 years. Google+
Tags: Risk Management, Technology