There is a video on YouTube with over 13 million hits of one of the TED TALKS by Simon Sinek (if you are not aware of these, we would encourage you to have a look), an Anglo-American author who specializes in decision making and inspirational communication, who has the answer.
Simon Sinek explains that we communicate best when we convey “why” we do something, not “what” we do, or “how” we do it. This difference is subtle but key.
To be able to identify why we do something and express it is much more difficult than explaining the what or the how of that action:
Increase sales, increase margins, this is not “why”, rather the result of what we do. But if we want to become motivators, to generate a reaction, a change in behaviour, we have to be able to identify the innermost “why” derived from a purpose, a cause, a belief.
Normally, it is easier for us to communicate from the most specific to the most general, but this sort of speeches do not prove inspiring.
The goal is not that people need what you offer, the goal is to do business with people who believe in what you believe, who share your motivations.
If we can communicate the “why” and not the “what”, we will be able to launch motivational campaigns!
