What’s your reason? How can answering these three simple words change your company and your life?
Regular readers of my articles are probably professionals who work with people’s futures. You operate in the franchise development industry, assisting others with their businesses, and you may have worked for or own a particular brand that you’re attempting to promote. You need to find the appropriate individuals, or your franchise consultant or broker who works with many different brands. Because you’re trying to determine whether business ownership through franchising is going to be the right thing for them, whether they have the business owner mindset, and then finding that, you know, ideally the best business, the best fit for them, you’re dealing with people’s futures in a broader, bigger way.
It’s crucial to provide an answer to the inquiry, “What’s Your Why?” Therefore, I’m reviewing a book by Kent Burns today. Kent explains how a three-word question can transform a person, a business, and the lives of individuals in leadership positions. And I’ll add to that the lives of those you work with, your clients, because, once again, in franchise development, we engage with people who are interested in company ownership for a wide variety of reasons.
To find and comprehend the why before unleashing it is one of the first keys Ken discusses in his book. He talks about the treasure principle, or a treasure quest. There are three ways to get started, including working with some of your clients or prospects as well as with yourself to discover your why. What comes to mind regularly for someone? What are your ideas, what draws you, and what is constantly on your mind? That answers one question then.
Where do you spend your time? The second question is How do you spend your money? That, then, is the third question. You should value these. These are the objects that are seen from a height of 15,000 feet when determining the location of your treasure. The Bible even claims that if you are a spiritual being or a virtuous man or woman, you’ll discover in your heart where your treasure is.
In the end, we are dealing with people’s true hearts, motivations, and desires. And so, it’s really crucial that this principle surrounding finding your treasure lies. Remember the old pirate movies and stories where there was a treasure map with a big X on it? This is what Ken means when he says that once you find where your treasure lies, you want to explore further. The treasure is located here. You should start your digging there. Therefore, you should go deeper into that area if you’ve reached a point where you regularly understand your thoughts, have examined where you spend your money, and have examined where you spend your time.
Ken mentions a few topics to explore more as a result, including relationships and who is important to you. In terms of people, who do you spend the most time with? When you delve deeper, the second question is: Are there aspects of life that you love having, taking part in, or being a part of? Find out more about what makes you happy rather than just what you think or how you spend your time and money in response to the third question. The final question is, “What are you enthusiastic about?” Think about what really gets you riled up. And while you consider all of them, including the things you enjoy, the joy you experience, your happiness, and your passion, consider where and with whom you experience these emotions. Ask yourself again, “Why do I feel this way at this time, with these things, and with these people?”
Knowing your employees’ whys, where their treasure is, where their heart is, and how to work with them will help you develop a firm, work with them, and create successful businesses. And the more genuine you are with the people around you, particularly if you’re starting a business, the more likely it is that they will follow you and your why will eventually become a part of their own. According to Ken, this also increases the likelihood that they will be willing to follow you.
Therefore, he talks about how sharing your why can help you inspire people and mentor them. However, I won’t go into great detail about it since I want you to focus more on your why. Additionally, I want you to use the full “what’s your why” inquiry with your prospects. Once more, the bulk of you who are listening are probably considering starting your own business. So this would be a great question and process to think through for yourself. But more of you who listen to me and download my podcast are doing this to assist others. I don’t want to concentrate so much on how to mentor and inspire employees within a firm or how to expand your business. I want you to consider what Ken has said more and how you may encourage people to start their own businesses.
I’ll end with a quotation. Kent ends the book by paraphrasing a Zig Ziglar quotation that he utilizes in the text. I’ll leave it to you again that Zig always said, “If you want to be successful, then go out and help others be successful. If you want to obtain what you want, help others achieve what they want.” Start by asking yourself, “What do you think about a lot?” What fills my mind with thoughts? Where do I spend my money and my free time? After that, you want to delve more into the things you enjoy, the joys you experience, and the passions you have. Where are these things? Who are they with? And who are you with when you are there? Why are these things your passion and your joy?
