#80: Story Trumps Purpose

Purpose. Why Statement. Vision. Goal. None of that seems to work for me.

So what does?

Story does.

A personal story pulls it all together.

It is the glue between where I want to go, where I come from and what gets me moving right now. It conveys meaning. Ultimately, it has the power to award me that «unique status».

Two people might come up with the same purpose, but rarely do two people have the same story to tell. They might be heading in the same direction. However, they would have had two different journeys so far.

It might only be me but I am curious about the «Why of your Why»!

If you wanted me to follow you, to join you on your journey, I would be keen to understand what got you to where you are today. I would ask for that level of transparency. Please demonstrate to me that your purpose has grown out of something that is deeply personal to you. I want to be sure that you didn’t just google «tomorrow’s 10 most promising purposes in business».

So let’s go back to those people presumably having one and the same purpose. One might call it his Vision, while the other refers to his Why Statement just because he is a BIG fan of Simon Sinek.

Why not take Simon Sinek’s personal Why Statement as an example:

«To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, we can change our world.»

Inspiration seems to play an important role in Simon’s life. Why is that? I have read more than one of his books, but I don’t remember to be honest.

What happened to him that drove him towards his purpose? Could he possibly point to a key experience, a special encounter or a big realization before he became the celebrity he is today? How did his upbringing in Johannesburg, London and Hong Kong contribute to what he is doing today and why «changing the world» has made it all the way to the top of his list?

Or in other words, what is Simon’s story?

A big hug to Werner and Mike, my brothers in crime, for triggering this line of thought.