‘The Golden Circle’ pattern, Get Yourself a Purpose.

Say you are a company owner, you are the one running the company, you have got employees that are happy to work for you, you have got customers that love your product and are loyal to it, you keep your employees motivated, provide them with the support they need, your company serves a purpose and has a motive. Congrats, your company is doing great, keep doing what you are doing.

But also, let’s imagine that you are a company owner, you are leading it, your employees seem to look miserable working for you, you have customers that purchase your product but could go to your competitor in a heartbeat, you only care about the company’s image, you do not actually know how your employees are, your company does not really serve any purpose, leading to unmotivated employees…. Congrats, your company is shutting down soon, unless you do something about it.

Recently, countless businesses have emerged, creating various job opportunities for thousands of people. However, many of these companies end up being a complete flop or go bankrupt, and the reasons vary. But let’s focus on two of the most common factors that lead to the failure of many, if not most, companies. Lack of purpose or reason behind opening a company, and lack of proper communication of the company’s purpose. If you can answer the “why are you doing what you are doing?” then you are on the right track.

If you find yourself unclear about the answer, then maybe you should take a step back and find your company’s purpose, what it stands for, and no… your company’s purpose should not be about financial gain. A purpose is timeless; it could be to transport mass amounts of people, or

Brilliant leaders, whether individuals or organizations, think, act, and communicate in an identical way. Whether they are aware of it or not, they do it by following a pattern that is referred to as ‘The Golden Circle’, a concept introduced by Simon Sinek in one his most influential books of all time “Start with Why”.

Why, How, and What

What: There is not a company in the world that does not know what they do.

How: a few companies know how they do what they do, they know how they are different.

Why: Only a­­­­­­ handful of companies have a clear understanding of why they do what they do.

We understand. You care about you company, you have put so much effort into keeping it up and running, sweat, tears, and money. But maybe you did not put a lot of thought into its purpose, its ‘why’, what your company serves, and purpose is everything. The company’s values and beliefs must be identified and communicated. Those who follow a leader follow them because they believe in what the leader believes in, they share the same beliefs, they get a sense of belonging from following that leader. This is achieved by communicating those beliefs and purpose to the people, and those who share the same beliefs and think the same way will find their way to you and WILL be loyal to you. It is all about having a purpose and communicating it the right way.

Communication is key, it is key to motivate and share your ideologies and beliefs with people, it is key to keeping customers loyal to your brand and feel connected to it, it key to having purposeful and motivated employees who get a sense of belonging from working with you. Communicate your ‘why’, advertise it, open up and you will find people who think the same way that you do come to you.

Example: PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and his management team were alarmed when they discovered that a substantial chunk of their roughly 25,000 employees, particularly those at the entry level and in hourly positions, were struggling financially despite the firm offering wages at or above market rate. This "seemed insane" to Schulman for a corporation whose mission is to improve its clients' financial health. As he phrased it, the "market wasn't working" for these employees—or for many others in a similar situation.

PayPal polled its employees to measure their financial wellness, created and began tracking indicators for its employees, and took urgent action to improve these metrics and provide financial stability to its employees. PayPal set a goal to increase its employees' net disposable income and enhance their financial health by dramatically cutting the cost of medical insurance, making every employee a stakeholder, enhancing wages in certain cases, and providing financial-wellness training.

Starting with ‘Why’ is only the first step. Before a person or company gains the right or ability to motivate, there is still lot to be done. Each of the elements of The Golden Circle must be balanced and in the proper order for it to work

Make sure you get this emphasis right from the start, because if you have a clear understanding of your purpose's essence, as well as how it's seen both from inside and outside, it'll be significantly easier to build on it and produce a narrative that everyone can buy into. From there, it's a natural progression for your staff to begin living your beliefs rather than having your culture shoved from the top down. This gives your brand's meaning more authenticity, which increases its impact and encourages people to pay attention and engage with your company on a deeper level.