Finding your why

If you have a law firm — or any business for that matter — the 18-minute video below may very well change your life. It has mine. When I first watched it in early May, I was blown away. It had shown up in an Apple-related blog (because part of the video discusses Apple), so I tapped the link and watched it on my iPad. As soon as I finished watching it, I immediately went over to iBooks and found and downloaded the book, which I read over the next few days. Since then, I have spent countless hours trying to figure out my "why." (That's where I've been, if you're wondering.)

The video is from the acclaimed TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) series of 18-minute talks, and the speaker is marketing consultant Simon Sinek. Since most of my reading covers business books and much of that are marketing books, I was surprised that I never heard of Sinek before. Turns out most people hadn't. But that will change.

Sinek's speech and book are called "Start With Why." His big idea is that successful leaders (actually, he prefers the term "those who lead"), whether in business or politics or any other walk of life, first talk about why they do what they do rather than about what they do or how they do it. His money quote, repeated mantralike throughout the 18 minutes, is "People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it." To succeed, then, you need to start with your "why." Your purpose. Your central belief.

My why, and the why of this blog and my firm, is "to fix the practice of law through innovation." Knowing this why will make it easier to identify potential clients — namely, innovative companies who believe that dealing with lawyers doesn't have to suck. The how of our firm is what I've spent much of the time here talking about — namely, our firm's innovations in fixed pricing, plain English, and other areas. And the what, of course, is the actual legal service we sell.

Watch the video. As I said, it's just 18 minutes. Then, if it moves you as it moved me, start figuring out your why. Share what you come up with in the comments below.