Finding your WHY Chromosome -Your Personal Brand Purpose

Why do I do what I do? What is our purpose? What do we believe? Do you believe what I believe? How do I prove what I believe?

As strategic advertisers, we're often engaged to research, verify and socialise brand blueprints for our clients; enshrining their purpose, values and behaviours in language that feels authentic. We do the same for our own businesses, creating a point of difference in a crowded market; a purpose beyond making money. We then go about living our values, on a daily basis (hopefully!).

In his book, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action, Simon Sinek says "All organisations start with why, but only the great ones keep it clear year after year."

People are attracted to authenticity and consistency - according to Sinek we're responding to a primeval survival instinct based on trust in your tribe to protect you, remaining otherwise wary of strangers. We want to FEEL a brand has integrity in order to love and be loyal to it.

Feelings. Yes, for all the research and methodologies, brand onions, pyramids or narratives, we're still talking about people, and the combination of their feelings, beliefs and values. The challenge for business leaders is to successfully unite their tribe under a blueprint that feels truthful and personally relevant; often the most potent purposes are inspired by the leader or founder's own reasons for starting the business.

If you're a leader or a leader-in-training, in a company of 10 or 10,000, identifying your personal motivation is the first challenge. Our Why Chromosome is formed in childhood and influences our choices and behaviours for the rest of our lives. But what is it? And how the hell do we find it?

Finding your own Why Chromosome may require a microscope of sorts, in order to analyse recurring patterns or themes in your life. What gives you a sense of fulfilment? Fulfilment is different to simple happiness or pride; it's connected to a deeper sense of self-worth or meaning.

For me, helping people overcome challenges is something that gives me enormous fulfilment. I do this by encouraging bravery and resilience in others (from my 4 year old niece to my colleagues) and espousing the benefits of constant exploration and learning to cultivate independence, confidence and intellectual agility.

Almost like putting yourself on the psychiatrist's couch, you will need to ask yourself some probing questions and keep asking them until you uncover a truth that feels authentic i.e you prove it to yourself and others on a daily basis.

Because even though we are the founder and CEO of our own brand, it's not easy to surgically isolate your Why Chromosome from all the other assumptions, habits and learned behaviours that have accrued over the years.

Often our personal manifestos have become intertwined with those of our employer. Some overlapping is probably a very good sign that you share the same values, but keep zooming in on the slide until your personal Why is clearly framed.

Then bottle it. Or freeze it. It's the emotional building block for the rest of your life.